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COMMUNITY TRAINING SCHOOL SERIES NORMAN E. RICHARDSON. Editor 



Pageantry and Dramatics 

in 

Religious Education 



BY 

WILLIAM V. MEREDITH 




THE ABINGDON PRESS 
NEW YORK CINCINNATI 






Copyright, 192 1, by 

WILLIAM V. MEREDITH 

All Rights Reserved 



FEB 18 '22 



Printed in the United States of America 



©5US53860 



DEDICATED TO MY FATHER AND 
MOTHER, PIONEER MINISTERS OF 
JESUS CHRIST IN NORTHWEST KANSAS 



CONTENTS 

chapter page 

Editor's Introduction 9 

Author's Preface 11 

I. Drama the Handmaid of Religion 13 

The Drama of Primitive People: Drama as prayer 
— drama the Bible of savage peoples. The Greek 
Theater: Its origin. Hebrew Drama: The "Let's- 
pretend" play of childhood — Ezekiel's dramatic pro- 
ject — dramatic dialogue — a vehicle for literary expres- 
sion. Drama in the Early Christian Church: Its 
origin — development of miracle plays — morality plays. 
The Church and Modern Drama: The festival — the 
missionary education movement — the democratized 
theater — the pedagogical movement. 

II. Play in Education 29 

Development of the Play Idea: The Greeks and 
play; recognition — the early church and play; renun- 
ciation — the disciplinarians; rejection — recreational en- 
thusiasts; play as medicine — the "camouflagers"; work 
disguised as play — the followers of Rousseau; complete 
recognition. Play the Natural Way in Education: 
Nature's schoolroom — nature's curriculum. The Play 
Way an Efficient Method of Teaching: Promotes 
self-activity — eliminates waste effort — furnishes neces- 
sary discipline. 

III. The Dramatic Motive in Play 42 

The Dramatic Motive: Spontaneous dramatic ac- 
tivity is real play — dramatic play colors all life — the 
desire for dramatic expression is instinctive. Satisfy- 
ing the Dramatic Motive: Satisfaction by inner imi- 
tation and dramatic imagination — satisfaction through 
spiritual expression — satisfaction through physical ac- 
tivity. Proper Regulation Is Essential: Results 
of unregulated play — possibilities of regulated dramatic 
expression. 

IV. What Is Meant by Educational Dramatics? 54 

Definition: Outstanding characteristics. The Test 
of the Educational Method: Form not indicative — 
finish not indicative — development of participants the 
test. Mental Processes Involved: Dramatic illusion. 

5 



6 CONTENTS 

chapter page 

Difference between Educational Dramatics and 
Professional Drama: The audience — selecting the 
cast — illusion — commercialization — the art of the 
people. 

V. Selecting the Theme 66 

The Age Interests: The make-believe period — the 
imaginative period — the heroic period — the period of 
group loyalty — the period of romantic idealism — the 
period of adulthood. Social Interests: International 
interests — national interests — community interests — 
educational recreation. The Text: Play lists. 

VI. Story Playing and Other Simple Forms of Dra- 
matization 84 

Inducing Spontaneous Speech and Action: Ques- 
tions and suggestions — the child's viewpoint and limi- 
tations regarded — the spirit of the director important. 
A Written Text Not Essential: Dramatic imitation 
— common incidents dramatized — impromptu repro- 
ductions — story plays — original productions. Pro- 
logues, Preludes, and Interpolations: Prologues — 
musical preludes — interpolations — introductions of play- 
ers. Aids to Dramatic Illusion: Costumes — proper- 
ties — stage settings — grease paints. 

VII. A Means of Teaching 102 

Educational Dramatics Imparts Useful Knowl- 
edge : Teaching biblical geography — teaching Bible his- 
tory — interpreting social and moral ideals — teaching 
biography — teaching principles of health and hygiene. 
Educational Dramatics Creates Proper Attitudes: 
Appreciation of art — patriotism — world-wide sympathy. 
Educational Dramatics Determines Character: It 
moves men to action — summary. 

VIII. Helps in Producing 122 

The Personnel : How chosen — play analysis — move- 
ment and grouping — securing dominance. Aids in 
Creating Dramatic Illusion: Costumes — properties 
— stage-setting — color — music. Makeshifts: Improper 
accessories. 

IX. Organization for a Large Community Pageant. . . 139 
Preliminary Plans: Sponsoring organizations — pub- 
licity — the executive committee. Production Person- 
nel: The pageant director — the business manager — the 
stage manager — personnel committee — the costume 
manager — the property manager — manager of lights — 
musical director. 



CONTENTS 7 

CHAPTER PAGE 

X. Types of Dramatic Productions 146 

Individuals as Players: Tableaux — the pantomime 
charades — stunts — the masque — the play — the pageant 
—-dramatic cast reading. Inanimate Stage Person- 
nel: Puppet play — bottle dolls and projects — dramati- 
zing through picture drawing. 

XI. Types of Dramatic Productions (Continued) 163 

Musical Drama: Singing games and folk dances — 
dramatic songs — the cantata — the grand opera and 
operettas — the oratorio. Screen Plays — Shadow plays 
— the motion pictures. Exclusively Religious Pro- 
ductions: Missionary demonstrations — Bible story 
plays — programs — passion plays. 

XII. Where to Use Educational Dramatics 177 

The Church: Sunday evening services — young peo- 
ple's societies — missionary societies — children's Sunday 
afternoon story hour — social evenings — church conven- 
tions. The Church School: The study period — 
opening service of worship — the religious day school. 
Interdenominational and Nondenominational Or- 
ganizations: Camps — clubs. The Community: Holy 
and holidays — annual gatherings — simple dramatiza- 
tions for group meetings. The Home : Home recreation 
and dramatic festivals — a play training school — a play 
training school of religious expression. 

XIII. The Values of Educational Dramatics 194 

The Education of the Participants: Emotions are 
regulated — cultural interests created — a substantial 
morality is achieved — a means of religious expression 
is furnished. Community Interests Are Advanced: 
Character-building recreation is provided — social con- 
tacts are made possible — foreigners are Americanized. 
Kingdom Interests Are Advanced: World-problems 
presented vividly — vocational guidance supplied— world 
evangelization. 

Index 209 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

"Rebecca at the Well," Given at the Roseville Methodist 

Episcopal Church, Newark, New Jersey Frontispiece 

facing page 
First Aid Dramatization 50 

Story Playing in Chinese Costume 92 

Bottle Doll Player Folk 108 

Scene from a Missionary Pageant, "Siddartha and the 
Eight-Fold Path" 154 

A Scene from the Dramatization of "Daniel in the 
Lions' Den" 172 

Scene from Pageant "The Wayfarer" 206 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

There are two questions that stand out clearly in 
the minds of religious leaders concerning the use of 
dramatics and pageantry in teaching religion. First, 
in view of the nature and meaning of religion, is there 
not a certain incongruity in their use for such a sacred 
purpose? Are these methods not more suited to the 
teaching of secular subjects? 

If it can be shown that there is no impropriety in 
adopting them there remains a second question, namely, 
Can they be depended upon to conserve those spirit- 
ually dynamic elements which Christianity, evangel- 
ically interpreted, demands ? 

The answers to these two questions have been given 
in an unusually clear and comprehensive way by Mr. 
Meredith in the following pages. The first four chap- 
ters are devoted to the consideration of the inherent 
right of pageantry and dramatics to become again the 
handmaids of religion. The moral and rational justifi- 
cation of making use of these very effective and 
ancient instruments in communicating religious truth 
to the people is set forth in convincing terms. In 
chapters five to twelve, inclusive, there are described 
in an interesting and practical way the steps to be 
taken in the discovery and use of amateur dramatic 
talent in the work of the local church. The question 
as to how to proceed is answered in detail. In the 
closing chapter Mr. Meredith makes a particularly 
strong appeal for the widest use of educational dra- 



io INTRODUCTION 

matics. The fact that dramatics often can be used to 
organize, arouse, and to direct emotions toward moral 
ends suggests that they have come to the Kingdom 
at a time of very great spiritual need. 

This volume is essentially an introductory study. 
The point of view reflects a sensitive appreciation of 
the noblest traditions of the church and a keen aware- 
ness of the forward steps now being made possible 
through the proper use of pageantry and dramatics. 

Norman E. Richardson. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

America has not become stage struck. She has but 
come into her natural inheritance, and, like a youth 
in its teens, has awakened to an appreciation of the 
beautiful. The new drama movement is an outward 
manifestation of this inner mood. As the adolescent 
boy, when his eyes are opened to the romance and 
wonder of the world, acquires a different manner of 
speaking and acting, so America has begun to wash the 
grime of commercialism from her face and to express 
herself aesthetically. Almost every city of any size has 
attempted some performance in the nature of a pageant 
or festival, and there is hardly a village which has not 
developed what some choose to call a mania for dra- 
matic production. 

Dramatization is also quite commonly accepted 
as an educational method. Many public schools and 
church schools are now teaching curriculum subjects 
in the classroom through directed dramatic play. Thus 
they train in the arts, hand-crafts, hygiene, and morals. 
Leading ministers and other churchmen of nearly all 
denominations have actively participated in pageant or 
drama production, that they might more effectively 
teach the subject of religion. Surely, a movement of 
such scope and magnitude merits our careful consid- 
eration. 

This book is an attempt at interpretation. It deals 
to a certain extent with methods, but it is intended to 
be more than a handbook or manual. It is a survey of 

II 



12 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

the field. It is hoped that it will help to remove some 
of the current prejudice against the use of dramatics 
and pageantry in religious education. Little origi- 
nality of treatment or subjectmatter is claimed. Many 
of the ideas expressed are derived from a study of 
source material listed in the chapter bibliographies. 
Valuable criticisms and suggestions have likewise been 
given by many of the pioneers and leaders in the new 
Educational Dramatic movement. Wherever possible 
these authorities have been given credit in the body 
of the text. 

Grateful acknowledgment is here tendered to co- 
laborers, writers, and all others who have so graciously 
added to the content and value of this book. Special 
acknowledgment is made to Emma Sheridan Fry. 
From her rich experience as writer, dramatic director, 
and formulator of the principles of Educational 
Dramatics she has contributed to the thought value of 
this text, promoted clarity of expression, and pre- 
vented misleading statement of principle and method. 
The writer, likewise, acknowledges his great indebted- 
ness to the editor of this series. His wise suggestions 
in regard to subjectmatter, treatment, and organization 
have brought the book to its present form. 



CHAPTER I 
DRAMA 1 THE HANDMAID OF RELIGION 

Religion has been a mother to the arts. She re- 
joiced at their birth, taught them to take their first 
steps, and watched with satisfaction their growth and 
development ; and yet, one by one, they have left their 
sheltering home. This was not because they were lack- 
ing in love and appreciation. Always they have sung 
their mother's praises. It was due to their environ- 
ment. Gray walls, solemn matins, and the sacred hush 
of the church stifled laughter. They were repressive. 
Youth's imagination craved freedom. Having once 
glimpsed the green meadow, the sunlight and the ex- 
panse of the out of doors, the youth of the church 
hesitatingly and yet joyfully stepped into the beauties 
and opportunities of a new world. 

Everything would have been well had religion 
"chosen the better part/' that of going along with 
them. She might have been a guide and an inspira- 
tion to even loftier expressions than they had yet at- 
tained. Left without a mother's care, however, it was 
not strange that there should have been indiscretions, 
and that Drama, the most beautiful, the most vivacious 
of all the daughters, should have been guilty of devia- 

1 Theatricals and the professional theater are not here under consideration. The 
theater as an institution and as at present conducted has little in common with 
Religious Education or Educational Dramatics, and so is discussed only in its 
limited relationship. A clear exposition of the essential differences between the 
professional and educational method is given in Chapter IV. 

13 



i 4 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

tions which, to say the least, have frequently been 
unworthy of such a mother. 

The new attitude of religion which permits her to 
leave the sanctuary and mingle with her children, has 
reestablished the mother-and-daughter relationship. 
While we must not expect a sudden change, a bene- 
ficial influence has already been felt. A new spirit has 
taken hold of the church, a spirit of practical idealism. 
Henceforth we can look for a new use of the dramatic 
arts which will transcend even the highest hopes of the 
former days. 

A knowledge of the relationship which has existed, 
and which again exists between drama and religion as 
suggested in the preceding paragraphs is needful for 
an understanding of the subjects hereafter treated. 

The Drama of Primitive People 

A close relationship is observed between the dramatic 
practices of "child races" and their religion. In fact, 
they seem to be inseparable. 

Drama as prayer. — Among primitive people the 
drama often performs the function of prayer, inas- 
much as it is an acting out of desires, which at a later 
stage in civilization may be expressed through the 
medium of direct invocation. Thus we find a wide 
range of dramatic rites and observances through 
which savage people hope to gain the good will of the 
deities. When rain is needed for the crops the fact is 
made known to the Rain God by some act such as the 
pouring out of water on the ground. If food is 
desired, a successful hunt is portrayed in which some 
of the people may take the part of animals, others the 
hunters. If the requests are not granted, it is not at 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 15 

all infrequent that dramatic acts which are deemed 
especially pleasing to the deities are performed — sacri- 
fices, actual and simulated. 

Drama the Bible of savage peoples. — Drama 
often becomes the Bible of the savage. Through it he 
is taught the common standards of morality, duty to 
the tribe, courtesy to elders, and respect and venera- 
tion due the totem. It is likewise his history, for 
through it he often enacts the great deeds of his actual 
and legendary heroes. Sometimes these performances 
are quite elaborate and extend over a period of many 
days. In the childhood of the race drama also may 
take the place of written literature as evidenced by the 
folk festivals and dramatic ceremonies, the weird and 
spectacular funeral rites extolling the virtues of the 
departed, and the puppet presentations of racial epics. 

The Greek Theater 

The Greek theater, which contributed largely to the 
advancement of histrionic art, was religious in nature. 
Even when objectionable practices were introduced the 
religious element remained. The secularization of the 
drama and its divorcement from religious ceremonial 
came at a later date. 

Its origin. — Greek drama had its origin in religious 
ceremonials. Both tragedy and comedy developed in 
connection with religious worship. As in primitive 
dramas, entertainment values were rarely considered. 
The performances were religious functions in which all 
the people participated. Even when at a later date 
special parts were assigned, and writing, acting, and 
chorus work became professions, it is said that the 
religious element persisted. 



16 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

We know that in connection with the festivals of 
Dionysius the priests were in attendance and were 
given places of honor; and that writers and actors 
were regarded as religious leaders and accorded privi- 
leges denied other classes. The Greek theater itself 
possessed a sanctity in the eyes of the people. It was 
considered quite as much a sacred place as the temple. 
Offenses committed there were regarded as sacrilegious 
and were punished with severity. 

Hebrew Drama 

A study of the Bible reveals the activity of the dra- 
matic instinct in the life of the Hebrews. While there 
are no biblical productions intended for actors, refer- 
ences are frequently made which show that dramatic 
expression was common to this people. 

The "Let's-pretend" play of childhood. — Jesus 
had observed the children playing funeral and wed- 
ding, and he indirectly mentioned the fact in the words, 
"But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is 
like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling 
unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped unto 
you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto 
you, and ye have not lamented." 

EzekiePs dramatic project. — The first few verses 
of the fourth chapter of Ezekiel clearly show the 
resemblance between certain of the methods employed 
by the prophets and those used by modern educators 
who are now utilizing bottle dolls and toy figures to 
tell stories and teach facts in a vivid way. "Thou 
also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before 
thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem : and 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 17 

lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and 
cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, 
and set battering rams against it round about. More- 
over take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a 
wall of iron between thee and the city : and set thy face 
toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay 
siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of 
Israel." 

Dramatic dialogue. — An example of dramatic dia- 
logue interspersed with songs and interpretive dancing 
is given in the passage which refers to the action of 
Miriam, the sister of Moses, as she, timbrel in hand, 
answers the chorus of women, the occasion being the 
deliverance of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh. The 
song of Moses, in all probability, was acted out in a 
similar way, as was also the dance of David before the 
ark upon its return to the Holy City. 

A vehicle for literary expression. — As the story- 
tellers of the race have kept the folk tales alive by 
retelling them from generation to generation, so, in 
all probability, have some of our choicest ceremonial 
psalms been preserved for us through action, music, 
and dialogue until they were incorporated in the Holy 
Scriptures. In the Literary Study of the Bible 1 Moul- 
ton shows how the dramatic instinct has projected itself 
in nearly all types of biblical literature : "Hebrew litera- 
ture has not developed a separate and distinct drama; 
although, as if to compensate for this, the dramatic 
impulse is found in Hebrew to invade other regions 
of literature, including such departments as might have 
seemed most impervious to it. The current finding no 
channel has spread and diffused itself. The reader of 

1 D. C. Heath & Co., publishers. Used by special permission. 



18 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

the Bible knows that he will find in it no acted play- 
like the plays of Shakespeare. But, on the other hand, 
he will find lyric poems especially dramatic in tone, and 
in Solomon's Song a lyric idyl that impresses some of 
its readers as a complete drama. He will find, again, 
philosophy taking a dramatic shape. In the book of 
Job the dramatic form reaches an intensity not ex- 
ceeded in any literature; yet even here there is no in- 
dependent drama, but the dramatized discussion is 
made to rest on a basis of epic story. What is still 
more surprising, the discourses of prophecy are found 
to be leavened by the prophecy which will in this 
work be called the Rhapsody which is preeminent in 
the closeness with which it approaches to Drama. If 
such things could be made the subject of measurement, 
it would be safe to predict that the mass of dramatic 
material in biblical literature would be not less than 
that found in other literatures where drama is a distinct 
form." 

Drama in the Early Christian Church 

Its origin. — Two causes made drama an expression 
of the Christian Church. The first was the desire to 
interpret to an unlettered people the facts of the Chris- 
tian religion. That converts might be won to the faith, 
visual methods of a dramatic nature were used to 
overcome the difference in language. The pagan fes- 
tivals with their ceremonies were taken over and Chris- 
tianized. Small modeled figures, grouped to represent 
biblical themes, were exhibited in the churches during 
certain seasons of the year. Saint Francis of Assisi 
sought to interpret biblical facts by the use of pan- 
tomime. There exists a record of the Nativity scene as 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 19 

portrayed by him. Through the use of certain prop- 
erties, animals, and actual personages he portrayed a 
living picture which could not have been without its 
effect, as evidenced by the influence of such tableaux 
even in our own times. At a little later date it is re- 
ported that a German clergyman assisted his people, 
who were not familiar with the Latin, by unrolling a 
picture scroll during the service, thus making it possible 
for them to understand. The extensive use by the 
church of painting and sculpturing is another mani- 
festation of this desire for interpretation. 

The second reason for the production of drama in 
the Christian Church was the inherent urge for dra- 
matic expression. Even during the bitterest opposi- 
tion in the early centuries, a period in which actors 
were not received into the communion except on con- 
dition that they relinquish their profession, and mem- 
bers who persisted in attending this form of amuse- 
ment were dismissed, this spirit was continually mani- 
festing itself. Ezekiel, a Jew, wrote a tragedy based 
on the book of Exodus during the second century. In 
the fourth century Apollinarius, the elder, a priest of 
Laodicea, and his son were interested in the dramatic 
field. The father put certain parts of the Old Testa- 
ment into play form. The son recast the New Testa- 
ment in Platonic dialogues. 

Development of miracle plays. — In the ninth and 
tenth centuries an elaborate change in the church ritual 
was made through the addition of songs and dialogues 
of a dramatic nature. This led to biblical dramas. 
One of the best of these known as the Quern Quaerites 
paraphrases the account of the resurrection story as 
recorded in the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew. 



20 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

At first it took the form of a dialogued chant, but 
later, as it developed, it was carried out in detail of 
action — one of the clergy taking the part of the angel 
at the tomb, and others, dressed in long garments, the 
parts of the women. From this time on the secular- 
ization of the drama was a slow but gradual process. 
The dramatization of outstanding events in the lives 
of the saints was introduced, and then plays dealing 
with the whole cycle of biblical history from the crea- 
tion to the final Judgment. 

Necessity made many changes. Originally all the 
parts were taken by the priests. Elaboration, however, 
made this almost impossible and the laity, members of 
trade guilds, and also wandering jugglers gradually 
supplanted them. This, in a way, commercialized the 
performances, since such actors received definite sal- 
aries and were selected by pageant masters for their 
particular histrionic ability. The adoption of the Cor- 
pus Christi festival by the guilds of many cities, as the 
chief festival of the year, called for elaborate pagean- 
try. The York pageant, for instance, at one time had 
as many as fifty-seven plays produced by as many 
different guilds. 

Morality plays. — During the fourteenth century 
another drama type, known as the morality play, was 
popular. It differed from the miracle play in that 
instead of picturing biblical incidents it dealt in an 
allegorical way with moral themes in which personi- 
fied powers of evil and good struggled for the pos- 
session of man's soul. They were what might have 
been called exhortative dramas, their purpose being 
the portrayal of the effects of sin. Many were long, 
and, to us, they would be wearisome, but to the people 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 21 

of that period they were no doubt of moral and spirit- 
ual value. 

At a later time these morality plays became polemics 
in the hands of both the Protestants and Catholics, by 
means of which each held up to ridicule the beliefs of 
the opposing body. They became as newspapers and 
served to mold public opinion as do our propaganda 
plays today. They were promoted for the distinct 
purpose of influencing people to take a definite stand on 
controversial questions. The play Everyman, which 
comes down to us from the latter part of the fifteenth 
century, and which with changes has recently been 
produced in England and America, is an example of 
the best of these productions. 

The Church and Modern Drama 

The question may be asked, "Why the present great 
interest in dramatization outside theater limits?" 
Many forces have brought the drama into this gen- 
eral recognition. The World War, while not a direct 
cause, has stimulated such activity as nothing else could 
have done. Some sort of entertainment was demanded 
which would appeal to the army man, and make him 
forget for a time the business of soldiering. Profes- 
sional entertainers and actors served, not only as per- 
formers but also as trainers, and men with special 
qualifications from the ranks were detailed for training 
by those in command. As a result, practically every 
American unit in France had its "show troupe," and 
our men, while they remained in the States, or in the 
training areas in France and England, enjoyed min- 
strels, musical comedies (many of them being original 
compositions), and all manner of dramatic entertain- 



22 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

ments. All over the country, in response to the same 
general need, various types of dramatic productions 
were sponsored. No one will forget the war pageants 
and parades, the spectacular demonstrations of a dra- 
matic nature undertaken as community projects. Even 
since the war the desire to give expression to poetic 
and heroic thoughts has been noticeable. There arises 
a new spirit of idealism, a longing to understand, and 
a resulting effort to interpret the mysteries of life. 

The writer feels, however, that war can be regarded 
only as a quickener of the desire for dramatic expres- 
sion. Credit for giving drama its new and proper place 
in American life should be given, chiefly, to four other 
movements which will be discussed separately, stress 
being placed upon their relationship to the church. 

The festival. — Public safety and regard for per- 
sonal welfare have demanded the regulation of national 
and community activities. For instance, the old 
Fourth of July, with its noise, conflagrations, and acci- 
dents, has been tabooed. Perhaps not altogether for 
artistic reasons, it has been replaced by sane and 
aesthetic demonstrations of one type and another — 
most of them being community projects, which utilize 
the most talented local artists. These festivals and 
public functions find expression chiefly in dramatic 
form. Through such action large numbers of people 
may be utilized to express in a beautiful and realistic 
manner the emotions the group wishes visualized. 
During the war period street pageants of the proces- 
sional nature were very common. Relief organiza- 
tions have used the pageant-drama as a means of cre- 
ating sympathy for and an interest in the causes they 
represented. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 23 

The church has not stood aloof from these dramatic 
efforts; in fact, her people have been largely instru- 
mental in their promotion, and she herself at times has, 
as sponsor, even opened the doors of her own audi- 
torium for the dramatic presentation of causes such 
as those espoused by the Red Cross, Salvation Army, 
and Y. M. C. A. 

It has been to the community festivals of a religious 
type, however, that the church has given chief consid- 
eration. The festival spirit has been used to visualize 
the great truths of Christianity. The community 
Christmas tree with appropriate songs and dramatic 
portrayal of nativity scenes is now a symbol in nation- 
wide use. 

Other religious occasions are celebrated in like 
spirit. It is estimated that for the sunrise Easter serv- 
ice of 1920 between fifteen and twenty thousand peo- 
ple climbed Mount Rubidoux, in the vicinity of River- 
side, California. The cross was there on the rugged 
mountain — seen in the moonlight by the eager and ex- 
pectant throng as they climbed to points of vantage. It 
told its story. But the risen Christ was there also — 
made manifest through the glory of a perfect sunrise 
and appropriate service of song and praise. Through 
this symbolical pageantry a feeling of deepest rever- 
ence was created. The resurrection became a vital 
thing — a part of experience rather than a fact in reli- 
gious history. Those who were there became, for the 
time, the disciples and lived the period of sorrow and 
anxiety. It was the Holy City that lay dimly outlined 
before them, and it was the presence of the risen Christ 
that was felt as the darkness of the night gave way to 
the beauty of a new day. 



24 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

Mention should also be made of the sacred musical 
festivals celebrated from time to time at Bethlehem, 
Pennsylvania. They have not only influenced the life 
of that community but have by the spirit and manner 
in which they are celebrated moved other towns and 
cities to like means of expression. 

The missionary education movement. — The pag- 
eant Darkness and Light, written by John Oxenham, 
was the first production of a missionary nature to have 
universal recognition in America — being presented at 
"The World in Boston," and later in many of the 
larger cities of the country. In a tactful, pleasing, and 
yet forceful way it portrayed missionary facts. Its 
propaganda and entertainment values soon became gen- 
erally known, and its beauty and artistic qualities 
demonstrated the further possibilities of such dramatic 
presentation. . 

The success of this production and its cordial recep- 
tion caused the creation of a large number of smaller 
pageants with distinctly religious and missionary mo- 
tifs. These have been specially valuable from the 
propaganda standpoint. For the most part they have 
been written by missionaries or those with a special 
knowledge of foreign fields. Presentation of fact has 
been the main consideration. As a result photographs, 
cross sections of life rather than works of art, have 
been shown (the photograph shows minute details; 
the work of art eliminates the unessential and focuses 
attention to one central idea). Practically all the mis- 
sion boards of the several churches have, from time 
to time, distributed these productions through their 
special channels. In the East, especially, a wide cir- 
culation has been given to these life studies. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 25 

The Joint Centenary Celebration of the Methodist 
Churches at Columbus, Ohio, in 1919, through the 
presentation of The Wayfarer, and over one hundred 
and twenty smaller demonstrations and pageants, 
added stimulus to the drama movement. Almost simul- 
taneously the Protestant Episcopal Church created a 
Drama Department. A White List of Productions — 
religious dramas which could be recommended — was 
distributed and a few of the pageants were promoted 
in connection with the Nation-Wide Campaign for the 
Church's Mission. Other denominations have likewise 
given attention to this phase of missionary teaching, 
as evidenced by the large number of demonstrations 
and pageants recently printed and distributed, and also 
to the use that has been made of these same produc- 
tions in national church gatherings — the Congregation- 
alists in the Congregational World in Boston, 1920, 
and the Northern Baptists in their Exposition at 
Rochester, New York, of the same year. 

The democratized theater. — A new drama move- 
ment has done much to promote amateur and semi- 
professional entertainments. The writer has called it 
"The Democratized Theater." Many organizations 
are its active supporters, chief among which are the 
Drama League of America, the New York Drama 
League, and the Dramatic Departments of the Red 
Cross, Y. W. C. A., Community Service, and the dif- 
ferent churches. 

The Little Theater Movement, the Dramatic Move- 
ment in the Colleges, the Jewish Art Theater, the 
Drama Clubs in many of the settlements and churches, 
and the large community undertakings of pageant or 
festival nature which are directed by permanent organ- 



26 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

izations, are some of the more common manifesta- 
tions of the new spirit. Its purpose is to democratize 
art, making it the thing of the people instead of that 
of the few professionals. 

This new spirit aims to do away with commercial- 
ism by sponsoring community dramatic enterprises — 
enterprises which will develop the aesthetic and creative 
ability of amateurs and by so doing change the valua- 
tion put upon productions. With it monetary con- 
siderations are not the determining factors. Non- 
commercial dramatizations of social and educational 
value are encouraged and experiments of all types 
which might make a people's histrionic art are con- 
stantly being undertaken. It produces in the streets, 
in the parks, in made-over store buildings, and in one 
locality it has even taken over an old barn as a play- 
house. Its workers, as a rule, are not professionals, 
though often potential artists — those who have the 
desire to express themselves through some of the op- 
portunities made possible by the dramatic arts. 

A movement of this type, sponsored by organizations 
interested in aesthetic dramaturgy, and at the same time 
to an even greater extent in social and spiritual results, 
cannot fail to have an influence which is nation wide. 
It has done much to promote sane social and recrea- 
tional enjoyment, and at the same time, through cul- 
tivating a dramatic appreciation which counts as taw- 
dry and vulgar the presentations all too often sponsored 
by commercial institutions, has combated the more 
glaring evils of the professional theater. 

The pedagogical movement. — The utilization of 
the play spirit in education and the recognition of the 
desire for dramatic expression as a normal and spon- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 27 

taneous motive has resulted in the introduction of dra- 
matization in nearly all the public schools and church 
schools as a pedagogical. method. In this field of edu- 
cation much credit should be given to Emma Sheridan 
Fry, first dramatic director of the Children's Educa- 
tional Theater, on the East Side in New York city. 
Her study of the underlying principles of educational 
dramatics and their application to the different age 
groups has not only stimulated the production of drama 
for educational ends but has also kept many people 
otherwise unfamiliar with the methods of approach 
and direction from serious errors. Her book, Educa- 
tional Dramatics, will be helpful to those desiring a 
scientific explanation of the mental processes involved 
and who seek a knowledge of the methods through 
which the greatest development may come to the child. 
Principles underlying this new means of teaching which 
she and other pioneers have put to practical tests will 
be discussed in later chapters. This movement for the 
use of dramatization as a factor in education has had 
such a stimulating influence upon general dramatic ex- 
pression that brief mention must be made of it here. 
It has perhaps shown in a more forceful way than any 
of the other movements, the possibilities of dramatics 
as a constructive social and educational agency. 

Children who have been dramatizing in the class- 
room have the desire to express themselves in the same 
natural way in the community. They understand the 
method of procedure and will carry out with ease a pro- 
gram which would be entirely beyond the uninitiated. 
They have learned team play and have been trained in 
doing creative work. Their undertakings have re- 
sulted in productions of intrinsic merit rather than in 



28 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

stagy performances of little educative value. The re- 
hearsals, interpretation of characters, designing of cos- 
tumes, staging, and even the writing of the script, 
when that has been undertaken, have been pleasurable 
means of expression, thoroughly enjoyed by all and 
undertaken in the free and joyous spirit of play. 

Leaders capable of directing dramatic expression 
along sane and helpful lines have been developed by 
participating in these productions. The interest kindled 
has often created among the older young people a 
desire to learn the fundamental principles underlying 
such activities. As a result many directors with a 
working knowledge of stage art and educational 
methods are now available. Such persons, though not 
professionally trained, have been able to promote 
programs of dramatic activities which meet com- 
munity needs. Cooperating with Social Settlements, 
Community Centers, Public Play Grounds, Social and 
Religious Educational organizations, they have stimu- 
lated an interest in worth-while undertakings, devel- 
oped the participants, and raised community standards. 

Books for Reference 

Alfred W. Pollard, English Mystery Plays. 
Katharine Lee Bates, The English Religious Drama. 
Loomis Havemeyer, The Drama of Savage Peoples. 
Richard G. Moulton, The Literary Study of the Bible. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 29 

CHAPTER II 

PLAY IN EDUCATION 

The play spirit is like a vivacious child. It always 
asks to go along. It wants to be the nurse-maid to the 
baby. It almost runs the legs off the growing young- 
sters. It is the jolly good companion during college 
days. It overlooks the fact that the business man is 
dignified and it uproariously laughs as it hunts for vul- 
nerable places in his dignity. It even forgets to respect 
gray hairs and creaking joints. Worst of all, it has 
followed the school master with the persistence of 
Mary's lamb. Although spanked, snubbed, threatened, 
and even anathematized, it does not change its spirit 
of undaunted hopefulness. Its sang-froid through 
such abuse is mirth provoking. Whether approved or 
not, its boldness and insistence everywhere forces rec- 
ognition. It always has. Even Puritanism could not 
push it aside. Denied a chance of normal physical ex- 
pression, it took control of the dramatic imagination 
and created the fanciful witches and demons of horri- 
ble mien which assumed reality in the Salem tragedy. 

Development of the Play Idea 

Thus through the years the play spirit has expe- 
rienced difficulty in gaining recognition. The attitudes 
of educational leaders have been varied. Some have 
looked upon it with disfavor; some have complacently 
ignored it; others have sought to crush it; a few have 



30 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

welcomed it as a re-creator. Certain teachers, notably 
of the clerical school, have harnessed it to carry edu- 
cational burdens. But not until after the pronuncia- 
tion of the theory of naturalism by Rousseau and his 
followers was it allowed its larger place in the educa- 
tional field. Perhaps one exception must be cited. The 
Greeks recognized the practical value of play even 
though they may not have been familiar with the prin- 
ciples involved and enunciated by leaders of the pres- 
ent day. A more detailed study of these several schools 
of thought, including the Greek, may prove suggestive. 

The Greeks and play; recognition. — The Greeks 
recognized the value of the play spirit as a factor in 
training for citizenship. Its demands were respected 
in both the home and school, and from early infancy 
its activities were emphasized. Children in the nurs- 
ery were taught by means of simple games, largely of 
a dramatic nature. Plato, in his attitude toward play 
as expressed in his Dialogues, is almost modern. He 
advised that all children between the ages of three and 
six be taken to central meeting places by their nurses 
that they might engage in the free and spontaneous 
activities natural to their ages. To him the games of 
the child, to a great extent, determined future develop- 
ment, and so influenced the permanence of the state. 
Aristotle related play and education. He suggested 
that the play of children should be practice of what 
they are afterward to do seriously. 

While the Athenian primary and secondary educa- 
tion trained in letters, music, drawing, and painting, 
play was considered chiefly important. More than half 
the day was devoted to games and physical training in 
the palaistrai and the gymnasia. In Sparta play re- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 31 

ceived an even greater emphasis. Activities intended 
primarily for bodily development were encouraged, for 
a close connection was recognized between mental and 
physical growth. A strong mind was considered a 
complement of a strong body. Likewise, the good and 
the beautiful were deemed identical. Physical perfec- 
tion as an ideal thus carried with it more than the 
thought of strength and muscularity. It meant, in 
reality, the fully developed personality fit for citizen- 
ship. 

The early church and play; renunciation. — Play 
in the early Christian Church was considered inimical 
to the spiritual life. This attitude of hostility was but 
a natural reaction, for play assumed an important role 
in the Greek religion, and the Greek religious expres- 
sion at this period had degenerated for the most part 
into sensuous festivals of questionable character. The 
commercialization of the play spirit by the Romans 
with the demoralizing effects resulting, gave added 
justification for alarm. 

The early church Fathers were general and acri- 
monious in their condemnations. Their warnings were 
directed particularly against the pleasures of music, 
dancing, and play. Distinctions made between the 
sacred and the secular and the general feeling that a 
person gained in godliness only as he excluded all 
things secular, gave added cause for the condemnation 
of these forms of amusement. Compromises were 
thought to be impossible. Amusements were thought 
to absorb so completely the attention of those partici- 
pating that their spirit of serious contemplation would 
inevitably be lost. Such being the case, they were con- 
demned as unqualified hindrances to spiritual growth. 



32 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

The attitude of the Puritans and of certain other 
church people even down to the present time has been 
largely a reflection of the same conviction. Play has 
been regarded as a worldly pleasure, which by its na- 
ture promoted vanity and folly and turned the mind 
away from God and eternal things. 

The disciplinarians; rejection. — Since the time of 
the Greeks, many educators have recognized the value 
of play. In several countries, notably the Scandinavian 
and German, nation-wide efforts have been made to 
promote the physical welfare of the people through 
gymnastic games. This training, however, has been 
primarily given for physical rather than educational 
reasons. Not until lately has concerted action utilized 
play as a means of training for life. The child com- 
monly has been thought to play because it was his way 
of using up surplus energy stored during periods of 
inactivity. 

To the type of teacher which Dickens so vividly por- 
trays in Dombey and Son and Nicholas Nickleby the 
play impulse seeking expression was but a vexatious 
spirit and must of necessity be held in check by stern 
disciplinary measures. A similar view was held by 
many of our own educators a few generations ago. To 
them the manifestation of the play spirit in the class- 
room was a source of annoyance in that it directed 
interest to other than prescribed ends and hence must 
be suppressed. The teacher, therefore, who could most 
successfully snub the active impulses and keep the 
scholar's interest on the subject in hand was considered 
the most efficient. Almost as much effort was ex- 
pended in forcing the child's attention to the lesson as 
to the presentation of the lesson material. The teacher 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 33 

was primarily a disciplinarian whose chief function was 
that of preserving order and crushing the tendency to 
play or to be mischievous. Said one parochial school 
master: "Our school has this distinct advantage — we 
have the Book and the rod." 

Recreational enthusiasts ; play as medicine. — Many 
educational leaders have acknowledged the value of 
play as a re-creator. It is quite evident to the observant 
teacher that a recess period washes the thick and 
muddy minds of children and prepares for clear think- 
ing. The mother doing the unfinished task of the 
child says: "He lets play run away with him; and yet 
it is for his good. Play will give him muscle, teach him 
to hold his own, and develop his social nature." Even 
the big business man recognizes the principle and pro- 
vides a recreational life for his employees. Play, how- 
ever, by many of its most enthusiastic exponents is 
not welcomed in the field of business or educational 
activity. The idea inveterately persists that "play is 
play and work is work," and that they should be en- 
tirely divorced. Play is regarded as a side issue and 
introduced only in leisure time and under proper "reg- 
ulation as a medicine" or tonic. 

The "camouflagers" ; work disguised as play. — 
The zest and enthusiasm with which children play has 
caused certain educators to feel that if study could be 
made to seem play the learning process would be fa- 
cilitated. As a result a sort of a "Tom-Sawyer-white- 
washing-the-fence method" has been applied to the 
schoolroom. Games with a study feature tagged to 
them have been encouraged. Memorizing has been 
accomplished through songs and doggerel. Latin has 
been taught by playful dialogue. And by such exer- 



34 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

cises as spelling down and competitive activities the 
child's attitude toward study has been changed. 

Camouflaging study in this manner so that it seems 
to be play is not without educational value. The school- 
room is thus made less a place of irksome work. A 
motive is furnished for studious effort. While in some 
respects like the method now receiving much attention, 
that of "learning by doing," the two should not be 
confused. Sugar-coating work to suit the taste of the 
growing child is an altogether different thing from 
directing free and spontaneous play for purposive ends. 

The followers of Rousseau; complete recognition. 
— While the sentiment, "All work and no play makes 
Jack a dull boy," seems to be quite commonly accepted 
as a working principle, and while most people of the 
present day encourage children's play by furnishing 
them with toys and equipment, the majority still fail 
to realize the true educational significance of this all- 
animating activity of childhood. Too often it is 
treated as a happy, companionable, but useless and 
vagrant spirit which impels the individual to dash pur- 
poselessly about. Hence it has been given little consid- 
eration other than as a means of providing entertain- 
ment and recreation for those in whom one is inter- 
ested. Therefore the recent friendly interest accorded 
it by education has come as quite a shock to those who 
find learning and pleasure incompatible. To such it 
appears unbelievable that the serious matter of teach- 
ing should be turned over to this boisterous spirit of 
eternal youth. Strange as it may seem, however, and 
destructive as it may appear, to some, this is the mod- 
ern tendency in education. 

This change in educational theory is due largely to 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 35 

Rousseau's advocacy of naturalism in education. We 
cannot be certain that he knew where his thinking was 
leading him, or that he realized the full significance of 
his revolutionary ideas. All acknowledge his erratic 
tendencies, and some feel that blindly and in a spirit of 
protest he left the beaten path. But, whatever may 
have been his purpose and however eccentric his 
method, credit is his for starting the course through 
the wilderness which was later blazed by Froebel for 
the kindergarten and by Pestalozzi for the elementary 
grades. 

As we investigate this new way of learning, made 
passable by modern educators, we find that it is not a 
bypath winding here and there with no real goal; but 
that, even though it does leave the dusty highway, it 
is a beautiful and enchanting short cut in education, so 
judged by modern pedagogical standards. 

Play the Natural Way in Education 

While environment may modify, it cannot change 
the fundamental plan of growth. Every living crea- 
ture has within it certain laws which, in a certain meas- 
ure, are determinants. For instance, young squirrels 
or rabbits mothered by cats retain their own charac- 
teristics and seek their own instinctive activities regard- 
less of environment. Chickens will be chickens, 
whether hatched under a hen, a duck, or in an incu- 
bator. The same laws in regard to impulses and 
capabilities apply to man as to animals. We are what 
our natures allow us to be, and we cannot become any- 
thing else. Any educational system to be efficient must 
consider the innate desires and impulses and regulate 
its methods thereto. A superimposed scheme of train- 



36 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

ing, even though it may bring about growth, fails in 
so far as it does not harmonize with nature's plan for 
development. The play way in education does so con- 
form. It is a natural method. 

Nature's schoolroom. — The world is a great school- 
room, and under the direction of nature every living 
creature undergoes a rigorous enough course of train- 
ing to fit it for life's activities. There is a prescribed 
group of studies for each animal, adjusted to meet the 
needs of the species; and all study with a diligence 
which is astounding. This fact becomes obvious when 
we watch play life. 

Have you not observed the kitten wholly absorbed 
in what may seem at first glance to be the foolish effort 
of toying with a small movable object — clutching it 
with his paws, tossing it one way and another and 
then when it rolls away from him, pouncing upon it 
only to repeat the operation? Hours may be spent in 
such play. This is not wasted exertion. There is a 
purpose back of it all. Such activity is training for 
future life. True, it is pleasurable; but that is the 
way nature teaches. She does not make her courses of 
study drudgery. Hers is a play school, and she, not 
modern pedagogues, must be given the credit for estab- 
lishing that institution. 

Nature's curriculum. — In this school of natural ed- 
ucation the length of the training period and the cur- 
riculum are adjusted to meet the needs of the pupil. 
The lower forms of life, such as insects, require little 
rehearsing for the parts they will play in their allotted 
time ; and so they are sent out to battle their way under 
tutelage of the inherent impulses which teach them to 
react properly to their environment. With the higher 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 37 

animals and man, however, whose needs are more com- 
plex and the possibilities of other than mere reflex ac- 
tion are multiplied, the course of training is much 
longer. 

The dog's education receives more attention than 
does that of animals lower in the scale; and so in his 
puppyhood he learns to run, to dodge, to pursue, and 
to match tooth for tooth. First he plays with his 
mother and other dogs, which ruffle him up in mimic 
combat, then with the animals he chances to meet in his 
rounds of investigation — the chickens, which, loudly 
cackling, fly away at his approach; the cat, which 
doesn't seem to appreciate the unbounded enthusiasm 
with which he starts out in the pursuit of knowledge; 
and the little pigs of the barnyard, which likewise are 
hardly in sympathy with such manifestations of the 
educational desire, as evinced by their frightened efforts 
to escape as he playfully barks at their heels. The 
house dog, poor creature, enjoys no such advantage. 
Often he must satisfy his thirst for learning by sub- 
stitution, making shoes and other articles of wearing 
apparel simulate living enemies. 

God's plan for man's development is much the same 
as for His other creatures. Perhaps the instinctive 
desires are modified to a certain extent by the restric- 
tions of civilization, but they are always in evidence. 
The boy kicks out his shoes in acquiring foot dex- 
terity, throws stones at the cat that he may develop 
speed and accuracy of marksmanship, and exercises his 
lungs by giving vent to shrill and horrid noises that he 
may gain voice control. And so we might go on with 
the other play activities showing how their proper exer- 
cise trains for life and its responsibilities — the pugna- 



38 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

cious, which give confidence and the feeling of mas- 
tery ; the rhythmic, which lay the foundation for music 
and poetry; the creative, which cultivate imagination 
and train for inventive usefulness; and the social, 
which make possible group action and cooperation. 

Dramatic play often trains for special occupations. 
The farmer boy in his early play imitates the activities 
of his father and thus is introduced to farming 
methods ; the girl, mothering her doll, wheeling it about 
and making its clothes, receives training for mother- 
hood; and the Indian child in play, modeling and bak- 
ing tiny clay vessels, learns the craftsmanship of the 
race. In fact, we may say the instincts which are most 
readily expressed in play are sufficient to train men for 
all the essential relationships of life. 

The Play Way an Efficient Method of Teaching 

The true teacher is ever mindful of the learner. 
The learning process furnishes the standards by which 
the teaching process is judged. Anything that reveals 
to the teacher how the pupil learns ought to give him 
greater insight into the nature of his own work. 

Promotes self -activity. — The crucial test of any ed- 
ucational theory is whether it promotes or hinders the 
pupil's self -activity, for self-activity is a requisite of 
growth. Education is not something that can be given 
to the child like medicine, whether he will or not. 
Neither is it a process whereby the child willingly 
opens wide his intellect and allows the teacher, ever 
alert for such an opportunity, to file bits of information 
in proper pigeon-holes of the brain. Development oc- 
curs only when the individual becomes active. It is 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 39 

something acquired, not given. To attain it the pupil 
must exert himself. 

The play way in education, better than any other, 
encourages self -activity. It completely absorbs the 
attention of the pupil and promotes whole-hearted at- 
tention. The "little tot" playing house thinks of 
nothing else. She forgets time, place, fatigue, and 
other distractions. With her it is a serious and worth- 
while effort. She is not "fooling," not consciously ex- 
erting herself for pleasure or for the sense of exhilara- 
tion. She is motivated by impulses similar to those 
which control the successful business man — the one 
who finds a joy in his vocation and gives it his whole 
mind and attention. True, she views it afterward with 
pleasure; so does the business man his work, but for 
the time being it is a serious undertaking. 

Eliminates waste effort. — It is this quality of 
whole-heartedness that distinguishes play from forced 
work or drudgery. In play the whole self is enlisted, 
keen and eager for new experiences. Attention is 
spontaneous and there is no waste exertion, for all ef- 
fort is centered on acquiring new impressions. This 
is not always true of work. External authority or will 
power may prod the pupil on to work, but the mind that 
divides its attention between such authority and the 
task in hand seldom reaches the highest level of crea- 
tivity. 

The ease and rapidity with which a child accom- 
plishes a task in play, a task which if made work 
would require a much longer time and a more con- 
scious effort, illustrates the principle involved. Play- 
ing store and learning to count money is a simple un- 
dertaking, easily accomplished when spontaneously 



40 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

done; but what a different thing it is when one must 
learn it out of a book, in the work or study way! The 
out-of-doors whispers to the mind and invites it to en- 
joy the pleasures of freedom; and it takes the com- 
bined efforts of determination, will, and fear to bring 
it back. Even after the mind has been forced to the 
task again, it is restless and often makes hurried and 
ineffectual attempts to escape. 

Is it any wonder that some people in whom natural 
interest has never been kindled have found the day 
school a prison house, and the Sunday school, where 
they have been strait-jacketed to hard, high benches 
and forced to be attentive, a place of torment? One 
could hardly expect anything else. Schools need not 
be so regarded, however, for training can be some- 
thing that one can look back to with other than feel- 
ings of abhorrence. In fact, in many of the truant 
schools, where one might expect indifference on the 
part of the pupils, if not open disregard, the teachers 
who have been given a free hand in determining the 
policies have made the studies so interesting that the 
children "go half an hour early" that they may be on 
hand to help with extra work. Often they are so 
enthusiastic and the interest in the subjectmatter is so 
intense that they impose studies upon themselves after 
school hours. 

Furnishes necessary discipline. — To those who ob- 
ject to the play theory in education, saying that the 
loss in discipline more than offsets any advantage 
gained, it is well to point out that the satisfaction of 
certain major instincts forces a discipline more rigid 
than that dictated outwardly. As one example we 
may take the instinctive desire for competition. The 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 41 

boy, to make his football team, will suffer all manner 
of hardships and deprivations under command of his 
determination; and a girl to win a scholarship may 
work herself to the point of nervous exhaustion, ignor- 
ing outer authority to obey the lash of an inner urge. 
When one stops to consider, one will see that both for 
the individual and for society self-discipline invoked 
through the spirit of play has every advantage over 
that which is forced by external authority. 

Books for Reference 

Joseph Lee, Play in Education. 

Karl Groos, The Play of Man. 

George Ellsworth Johnson, Education by Play and 
Games. 

Luther Halsey Gulick, A Philosophy of Play. 

Walter Wood, Children's Play. 

Norman E. Richardson, editor : The Mother as Play- 
fellow, The Dramatic Instinct in Children, The 
Use of Dolls in Child-Training, Dramatics in the 
Home, Story-Telling in the Home. 



42 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

CHAPTER III 

THE DRAMATIC MOTIVE IN PLAY 

All play which induces illusion may be classified as 
dramatic. Under this designation we must place not 
only physical play activities but also those mental and 
spiritual activities which involve inner imitation and 
dramatic imagination. In other words, we must say 
that the inherent impulses evoking dramatic activity 
may find physical, mental, and spiritual expression. 

The Dramatic Motive 

Any educational system which recognizes the play 
spirit as a factor in education must at least consider 
dramatics, for spontaneous dramatic activity is real 
play. It colors all life. It is so insistent that it in- 
trudes whether or not the teacher desires it. 

Spontaneous dramatic activity is real play.— Joseph 
Lee, in Play in Education, states that all play is 
spontaneous, completely absorbs the attention of the 
individual, and brings a feeling of happiness and sat- 
isfaction. A study of dramatic play reveals the fact 
that it differs in no essential respect from other play 
activity. 

One has but to watch the "lets-pretend-play" of 
childhood to realize that it shares all the qualities com- 
mon to other play. Go into any vacant lot where the 
"little tots" have taken squatters privileges and that 
fact is evident. Over here in the corner by a high 
board fence are two small girls entertaining the doll 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 43 

family. A soap box has become the dinner table and 
a few cookies begged from grandma are sufficient for 
a hearty repast; for though the dolls continually re- 
ceive much attention, are urgently offered different 
foods, and even assisted to partake, they are not hearty 
eaters. 

And there in another part of the lot is a little young- 
ster in soldier suit fighting the battles of the World 
War. Of course he is the General, and these zigzag 
lines are the trenches and the toy pistol is the artillery. 
It is a "terrible engagement" in which many are taken 
to the hospitals and in which the enemies are merci- 
lessly slain. He leads his forces until he is quite ex- 
hausted and his voice grows husky. Not until it gets 
quite late, in fact, until dinner time — and even then he 
hesitates until the second call — does he feel that he 
can turn over the command to the relief party which 
has come up to take over his particular sector of the 
trenches. 

Then, suddenly, there in the back lot the circus 
comes to town. It is quite a procession. Boys with 
cheeks daubed with red and with hideous make-up are 
the clowns. Two of them perform stunts on the back 
of the docile donkey. In the first wagon is Shep, the 
collie dog, who has been sheared to resemble a lion. 
And there is old Tige, the house cat, restlessly pacing 
back and forth, forced to simulate the Bengal tiger. 
The rabbits, guinea pigs, and white rats also become 
the "only ones of their kind in captivity" and peer out 
between bars of improvised cages. As the procession 
leaves the yard, one sees the glaring poster "Admis- 
sion, 25 Pins," and one so inclined might witness a 
performance which, from the promoters' point of view, 



44 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

would win approval of the Ringling Brothers them- 
selves. 

Even staid adults are influenced by the dramatic 
urge. Of course they do not take pleasure in express- 
ing themselves dramatically in vacant lots. Indeed, 
any "acting-out" may seem undignified and unbecom- 
ing. Nature, however, makes provision — a place in the 
mind where these miniature dramas may be staged. 
The literary man moves characters of his own creating 
across an imagined stage, characters whose actions he 
controls. And when they perform to suit his fancy, 
he writes down the action and dialogue and we have 
the drama, the novel, and the short story. 

The financier becomes a stage manager, and in that 
inner theater listens to improvised speeches and studies 
the actions of puppets who characterize individuals in 
daily life. The next day he enacts the scenes in the 
business world as he has perfected them through his 
dramatic imagination. A successful preacher, also, 
uses such a method in the preparation of his discourses. 
He studies the way the old gentleman in the front 
pew takes a certain line, the influence of another upon 
a young couple who have recently buried their only 
child, and after repeating one that he hopes will stir 
the higher emotions of his young people decides to 
recast it, since it fails in its purpose. So it is with all 
men who accomplish things in the world — prophets, 
creators, artists, and promoters. Indeed, for us all the 
fairies, heroes, ideal characters, funny clowns, and the 
lesser people of daily life are always in the dressing 
room of the imagination ready to be summoned on the 
stage by the dramatic instinct, there to act out for our 
experiment, edification, and amusement. Thus the 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 45 

world is ever a wonder world, a place of delight and 
never ceasing interest. 

Dramatic play colors all life. — The baby "finds 
himself" largely through imitative play, and such a 
time as he does have when once he learns what his legs, 
and arms, and voice are for! When he grows older 
he pretends to be a horse in the meadow, he barks like 
a dog, and does all manner of eccentric little tricks to 
mimic his elders — dusts the furniture, washes clothes, 
and walks like father. At a later period the child 
mothers dolls, keeps school, breaks prancing stick 
horses to ride, and stalks savage Indians to ruthlessly 
put them out of the way. Such activities are a part of 
child-life — quite as much so as is making ideal touch- 
downs in the study room which win college victories, 
or silently and reverently entering the dream world 
hand in hand with a loved one while listening to the 
simple heart songs at a concert. 

Then there is the world, God's great playhouse, 
where the spirit nature reaches up to heaven and brings 
down to earth the choicest treasures for stage-settings 
and properties — appropriate backgrounds for the 
drama of love. And old age may be the happiest play 
time of all — "the best," as Browning puts it. Have 
you not seen the gray-haired man chuckling as he 
moves phantom characters across the stage of memory; 
and have you not noted with what joyful expectation 
all those who have played their parts well look into the 
future? To them it is like going home after a long 
vacation, or a swinging of school books and a hurried 
running ahead of others that they may enjoy to the 
full the new day of pleasure. 

Dramatic play has always assumed an important 



46 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

function in life. As the story-teller of the tribe it has 
expressed through narrative and song the religious be- 
liefs of the race and the old folk legends and traditions. 
It has celebrated victories and has been a suppliant to 
the gods. It has eulogized mythical heroes and war- 
rior kings. In fact, it has been the medium through 
which the heritage of the ancestors has most fre- 
quently been made known. 

It has also been an inspirational companion to all the 
arts. It gave music a part in performance when that 
art was in its infancy, able only to croon weird and 
monotonous melodies. It pushed language on the 
stage and by frequent promptings taught it to express 
itself. It experimented with painting and sculpturing 
and with them learned harmony of color, artistic shad- 
ing, beauty of line, and clarity of design. 

The desire for dramatic expression is instinctive. 
— All of the seven principal play instincts as enumer- 
ated by Joseph Lee in Play in Education naturally 
manifest themselves in dramatic activity. The crea- 
tive, rhythmic, nurturing, and curiosity instincts are 
especially dominant among girls, and those of fight- 
ing, hunting, and team play among boys. At times 
several of these major instincts clamoring for recogni- 
tion at the same time intensify the demand for dra- 
matic expression until it is almost irresistible. Work- 
ing together and singly, as they do, they gain such con- 
trol over man that they, to a large extent, determine his 
experiences — mental, physical, and spiritual. They 
cannot be lightly regarded in any educational scheme. 
It is through their exercise that man grows. 

Among many primitive peoples the dramatic urge 
becomes so intense that all else is forgotten. When 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 47 

the wandering players in Burma come to a village to 
perform, the natives make an "all-night affair" of it. 
Even resident Christians, who acknowledge the evil 
nature of these degenerate festivals, are attracted with 
the other villagers and remain attentive until the 
players leave. Missionaries find that to counteract the 
evil influence drama of a different sort must be offered. 
Bible plays and pageants are presented, and wholesome 
story-playing is encouraged. 

Dramatic festivals take a strong hold on the Latin 
people also. Such occasions are gala days, ones in 
which all interest centers in the festivals. Days of 
preparation will be made for them. The peasants plan 
picturesque and striking costumes, that they may be 
in keeping with the spirit of the occasion. One has 
but to visit the Orient to be impressed by the important 
place drama assumes in daily life. Stories, events, 
beliefs, all become subjects for expression; and much 
ingenuity is manifested in designing costumes and in 
representing ideas. In some of the festivals of a more 
elaborate nature hundreds of people participate and 
months of preparation are given to necessary prelim- 
inaries. 

The findings of the Cleveland Educational Survey re^ 
veal the insistence of the dramatic appeal to the school 
children of that city. "Of the more formal use of 
dramatic play it is of interest to note that thirty per- 
cent of the boys of the elementary school have taken 
part in shows or plays, and forty-six percent of the 
girls. Among high-school pupils the percentages are 
forty-six percent of the boys and fifty-eight percent of 
girls. 

"But by far the most striking evidence of the dra- 



48 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

matic interest is seen in the attendance record of 
the pupils at the moving pictures. Seventy-eight per- 
cent of the boys of the elementary school are accus- 
tomed to attend the movies, and eighty-four percent 
of the girls. These children attend on the average 
three times in every two weeks. This is more frequent 
than the attendance that has been estimated for the 
general population of New York city — once a week; 
or for Cleveland — once in every six days. Twenty- 
four percent of the boys attend the vaudeville as well, 
and thirty percent of the girls. The average number 
of times the boys and girls attend the vaudeville is a 
little less than once a week. Besides, eighteen percent 
of the boys attend the regular theater over twice a 
month, and twenty-one percent of the girls over once 
a month. 

"Eighty-nine percent of the high-school boys are ac- 
customed to attend moving pictures, and ninety-one 
percent of high-school girls. The boys go, on the 
average, three times in two weeks, and the girls a lit- 
tle oftener than once a week. Sixty-seven percent of 
the boys attend the vaudeville, and fifty-nine percent 
of the girls. The average attendance of boys and 
girls is once in two weeks. Forty-eight percent of the 
boys attend the regular theater, and sixty-three per- 
cent of the girls. These boys attend nearly twice a 
month, and the girls over once a month." 

The Federal Council of Churches in its pamphlet, 
Motion Pictures in Religious and Educational Work, 
records the large number of people in America daily 
attending the motion picture houses which offer only 
one of the many ways to satisfy dramatic interest. 
"Fully 8,500,000 persons visit motion picture houses 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 49 

every night. Two billion five hundred million admis- 
sions were issued last year. The weekly capacity of 
motion picture theaters in Portland, Oregon, now ex- 
ceeds the total population of that city. In Boston 
vaudeville and motion picture houses offer eighty-five 
percent of the seating capacity of its theaters. In 
New York alone between one sixth and one seventh of 
the population visit these places of entertainment daily. 
In Cleveland one sixth of the city go at least once a 
day. And this is true not only of our large cities, but 
of our small cities as well." 

Satisfying the Dramatic Motive 

The dramatic impulse is ever alive in the individual — 
ever prompting and urging expression through mental, 
spiritual, and physical activities. It cannot be denied. 
It is one of the strongest hungers. Thwarted in its 
attempts at finding satisfaction in wholesome ways, it 
seeks other means regardless of results. 

Satisfaction by inner imitation and dramatic 
imagination. — Quite often this demand for dramatic 
expression is satisfied by w T hat Groos in his Play of Man 
would call inner imitation and dramatic imagination. 
This holds true more often with the adult than with 
the child. Development has made it possible for him 
to picture by mental processes those actions which the 
child must express physically. Thus it is that he can 
satisfy his inherent desires through imaginative read- 
ing, through reminiscences, through creative think- 
ing, and through dramatic activity visualized for him 
by motion picture or acted out for his benefit on the 
stage. 

Satisfaction through spiritual expression. — In the 



50 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

spiritual realm dramatic expression also has an im- 
portant function. It enables man to gain new religious 
experiences and to make those of the past a more vivid 
and secure part of his life. People who have met with 
outstanding manifestations of God's presence are able 
to think of them only in the form of dramatized rela- 
tionships, as evidenced by scriptural and other ac- 
counts of such happenings. Spiritual meditations of 
whatever sort are likewise usually dramatic. 

Professor Allen Hoben, of Carleton College, has 
classified all spiritual activities as play inasmuch as they 
have all the characteristics of play — are spontaneous, 
completely absorb the attention of the individual, and 
bring a feeling of happiness and satisfaction. Carry- 
ing out this idea, we could say that as other play activi- 
ties are purposive — train for life — so these also train 
the spiritual nature and cause a growth in grace and 
power. Through them God trains for earthly living. 
And who knows but that the pictured longings of those 
who wait here yet a little while before they go yonder 
to meet with those who have gone to the great beyond, 
are not types of spiritual play which will prepare for 
the future life even as the physical and mental play has 
prepared for this corporeal existence ? 

Satisfaction through physical activity. — The reac- 
tion of the little child to the dramatic impulse appears 
to be largely physical. The adult can picture an im- 
agined world — people it with characters who perform 
conventional or unusual roles, and do it while sitting 
quietly by his study table. But how different it is with 
the child! To live over past events, or to gain new 
experiences he must express himself physically — "act 
out" what he has seen or imagined. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 51 

When Mother Smith returns from church she men- 
tally reproduces those incidents and scenes of the serv- 
ice which have most impressed her. The settings, 
background, and mood created by the hour of fellow- 
ship and worship are still with her. She reviews all 
the details. Happy, good-natured Mr. Thompson 
enters and expresses his good will by putting all of his 
three hundred pounds behind a smile and a hearty good 
morning. Mrs. Zimmerman ushers in the six red- 
headed little Zimmermans who have been polished un- 
til they are as pink and shiny as thorough-bred Durocs 
ready for a live-stock show. People of all types and 
descriptions flit in and frequently usurp the rights of 
the leading personnel. 

An altogether different "show" is staged by Bobby 
Smith and William Jr. They put on a real production 
in which they become the actors. After a heated dis- 
cussion Bobby takes the star roles of minister, soloist, 
and usher. William Jr. becomes the congregation and 
is ushered in with proper and fitting decorum. The 
peculiarities of the minister are imitated by his under- 
study; parts of hymns are sung; announcements made, 
collections taken; and all the other regular business 
attended to. Peculiar and amusing? Yes, it may be; 
but it is the child's way of interpreting the world about 
him. He is an actor, not an observer, and best satis- 
fies the promptings of his creative imagination by 
dramatic physical expression. 

Proper Regulation Is Essential 

Dramatic play should be given serious considera- 
tion, not only in the schoolroom but also in the church 
school, the church, and the community. It reaches 



52 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

more than the physical being. It stimulates all life 
forces and forms habits of thought and action which 
determine future character and conduct. Play expe- 
riences leave indelible impressions. This fact is very 
evident to those who have tried to change the attitude 
of children whose play life has been unregulated, and 
whose environment has been such that the vices have 
been idealized. 

Results of unregulated play. — Undirected play 
may result in what has fittingly been called the drama 
of arrest, that manifestation of the dramatic instinct 
which so frequently brings boys into the police courts 
of our large cities, boys who have been prompted to 
assume roles, the playing of which, while satisfying 
an inner urge, has resulted in arrest and incarcera- 
tion. 

Often through suggestion individuals lose them- 
selves in dramatic imagination. There is an inherent 
desire on the part of every individual "to get expe- 
rience by proxy, or enjoyment of borrowed fame," as 
G. Stanley Hall would state it. In response to this 
desire to experience what others have felt, or to re- 
enact what others have done, the most horrid crimes 
known to man are perpetrated. A sensational news- 
paper account of a horrible murder or suicide, which 
to a certain individual may glorify the deed, quite 
often is sufficient to suppress those forces which in the 
past have inhibited him from such unsocial action. 
Police records show that crimes featured in news- 
papers are usually reenacted soon afterward in many 
localities. Motion pictures likewise which make their 
appeal to the "elemental emotions of blood and sex" 
are baneful in their effects. An objectionable film 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 53 

shown through a city may precipitate ten or a dozen 
people into violence which brings them into the court- 
room. 
Possibilities of regulated dramatic expression. — 

When we begin to study the self we realize the im- 
portant place the dramatic impulse assumes in deter- 
mining future relationships and conduct. It is the im- 
pelling force stimulating and supporting numberless 
activities, physical and spiritual, whether or not we 
are conscious of the fact. In many respects, we are 
puppets on the stage of life, pulled by the strings of 
environment, limited only by natural make-up. Being 
such, the true educator is he who takes from the hands 
of chance the strings, and directs action so that there 
will be personal development and no tragedies. This 
can be most successfully accomplished through ap- 
plied Educational Dramatics. 

Books for Reference 

Emma Sheridan Fry, Educational Dramatics. 
Eleanor Whitman Curtis, The Dramatic Instinct in 

Education. 
J. G. Fraser, The Golden Bough. 
Loomis Havemeyer, The Drama of Savage Peoples. 
George E. Johnson, Education through Recreation. 



54 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

CHAPTER IV 

What Is Meant by Educational Dramatics? 

An opportunity to define Educational Dramatics is 
welcomed, because there are so many current misun- 
derstandings in regard to its scope and meaning. 
While more or less mental confusion was to be ex- 
pected at first, it is no longer necessary. A careful 
and scientific study has been made of the underlying 
principles which characterize and differentiate Edu- 
cational Dramatics from other forms of dramatic ex- 
pression, both professional and amateur. These prin- 
ciples can be stated; in fact, they have already been 
stated by those who have been pioneers in this educa- 
tional field. 

Definition 

Educational Dramatics purposes to select, control, 
and develop the impulses of the individual which natu- 
rally and spontaneously find expression in dramatic 
activity. Its special aim is thus to secure the progres- 
sive development of religious experience in order that 
greater social usefulness may be attained. As stated 
by Emma Sheridan Fry, 1 "Educational Dramatics does 
not seek to train dramatic talent for the stage, or to 
coach 'amateur actors' for a 'show/ It cooperates 
with the universal instinct to develop the whole human 
being toward life and citizenship." 

Outstanding characteristics. — The outstanding 

i Educational Dramatics, Lloyd Adams Noble, publisher. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 55 

characteristics of Educational Dramatics may be de- 
scribed as follows : It is a natural method of teaching 
in that it travels with the child's instinctive desires 
rather than counter to them. Spontaneity, or the play 
spirit, marks its efforts, for it is not a forced but 
pleasurable activity. It attracts the whole attention 
of the individual — so much so that he lives for the 
time being the life which he is portraying, and as a 
result, attains the benefit of this regulated experience 
without the dangers incident to real life experiences. 

The Test of the Educational Method 

What shall be the test of Educational Dramatics? 
Is there any standard by which we can judge the in- 
tegrity of our method? How are we to classify the 
several types of dramatic directing? 

Form not indicative. — The form taken by dramatic 
expression gives little indication of its value. Types 
of presentation in accord with the principles of Edu- 
cational Dramatics for one age group may be un- 
suited for those of another. The kindergarten child, 
whose life is almost wholly absorbed in imitation, will 
of necessity demand a different mode of expression 
from that of the adolescent girl, who has a private 
wire to the dream world and keeps her ear to the 
receiver most of the time. It may be well for those 
working with children of Primary and Junior age to 
say, "Don't show or tell the participants how to do a 
thing. Develop the dialogue and action through sug- 
gestion. Let the child initiate." This rule, however, 
may be violated to good advantage in the finger plays 
of early childhood. The teacher here may even go so 



56 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

far as to move the hands of the "little tot" as he re- 
peats the rhythmic lines. In the kindergarten it may 
also be found advisable to disregard the rule and to 
stimulate the child's spontaneous action through initial 
imitation. Of course a slavish imitation of the teacher 
or pupils should not be encouraged, but where the im- 
aginative faculties have not developed sufficiently to 
rouse spontaneously creative activity, the adjustment 
of outer form brought about through imitation may be 
sufficient to impel inner activity and promote the 
growth sought. 

Again, with older people in undertakings such as 
community pageantry the method must be changed to 
suit the group and the conditions. If methods of story 
dramatization are followed out — that is, the produc- 
tion is allowed to grow only by the process of sugges- 
tion and trial, as advised by certain individuals — 
confusion and discord will result. Group interest dis- 
integrates unless a director in charge carefully plans the 
action and knows what should be done. 

Finish not indicative. — The close attention to de- 
tail or finish of a production gives little information as 
to whether or not it has been "worked up" in accord 
with the principles of Educational Dramatics. While 
many of the dramatic enterprises directed by the edu- 
cational method, especially those hastily gotten up in 
the classroom, appear crude to the spectator, crudity 
is never a test. In aesthetic taste and artistic finish 
Educational Dramatics may rival the professional 
stage. The writer had this fact forcibly brought to 
his attention after passing criticism on the presenta- 
tion of a production known as "The King's Sapphire," 
given by the children of the Greenwich Settle- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 57 

ment House, New York city. Although the partici- 
pants were not self-conscious and acted in a natural, 
unrestrained way, he at once said : "This is a fine per- 
formance, but it is not Educational Dramatics. These 
children are amateurs, and their methods are those 
followed by professionals." Afterwards he learned that 
the children had written the play themselves, designed 
the costumes, and used ideas of rhythmic movement 
and artistic grouping learned in the gymnasium and 
gathered through observation. He was therefore 
forced to change his first assertion and to come to the 
conclusion that no degree of perfection in technique 
is beyond those employing the educational dramatic 
method. 

Development of participants the test. — There is 
only one safe way of determining whether or not any 
method employed in dramatization may rightly be 
called Educational Dramatics. It must be judged by 
the reaction of the participants to the production or 
other form of dramatic expression. Only an edu- 
cational result guarantees the integrity of the method. 

Mental Processes Involved 

The mental processes evoked by Educational Dra- 
matics are similar to those called into play in real 
life. Growth and development are not brought about 
by any "hocus-pocus" method. "Real life processes" 
are induced. The fact that the inner being is uncon- 
sciously or willingly mistaken in the interpretation of 
objective stimuli does not change the reaction. Illu- 
sion has the force of the actual. 

Dramatic illusion. — Educational Dramatics creates 
what is known as dramatic illusion. In so far as the 



58 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

individual is concerned, it differs in no essential respect 
from other illusion. As an example of this fact : often 
due to objective suggestions, mental susceptibility, and 
fixity of attention, objects dimly observed in the dark 
assume fearful form. To the individual these exist as 
imagined. His reaction to them is the same as to objec- 
tive realities. They evoke similar responses and give 
similar emotional experiences. On the other hand, 
dramatic illusion evoked in play or pageant presenta- 
tion makes "acted-out" scenes seem real. Even in 
such passive form of dramatic expression as photo 
plays individuals in the audience may become so much 
a part of the depicted action that they cry out with 
fright or weep in sympathy. Not long since the writer 
witnessed an exciting photo play where one woman 
entered into the depiction to such an extent that she 
arose from her seat and expressed herself by excited 
gesticulations. 

To the person acquainted with the technique of Edu- 
cational Dramatics the analogy between dramatic illu- 
sion and the other types of illusion will at once become 
apparent. The neutral background of the "stage-set," 
like the darkness in the example cited, assists stage ac- 
cessories, such as properties and costumes, to create 
certain effects. Color, light, sound, music, grouping, 
movement, action, and certain mental states evoked by 
former experiences all have bearing on the several 
types of illusion. By observing the necessary law for 
producing dramatic illusion, the director of Educa- 
tional Dramatic activities can regulate emotional expe- 
riences for distinct educational purposes. Thus the 
rich emotional heritage of the world's leaders can be 
passed on to child and adult life. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 59 

Difference Between Educational Dramatics 
and Professional Drama 

From even the brief statement here attempted of the 
principles involved in "play methods" it should be ap- 
parent to the careful reader that Educational Drama- 
tics occupies a field altogether different from that filled 
by the stage-drama directed by theatrical managers, 
which, for want of a better name, we shall call profes- 
sional dramatics. Hasty generalization on the part of 
many people still causes confusion, however. Asso- 
ciation too often connects everything dramatic with 
the commercial stage and accepts "dramatic" and " the- 
atrical" as synonymous. Because of this fact it has 
been thought advisable to draw further comparisons 
between the principles underlying the two activities — 
the professional and the educational — and thus empha- 
size the general tendencies of both and the value of 
each to society. 

The audience. — Educational Dramatics concerns 
itself with the participants rather than the audience. 
In fact, an audience is not included in many forms of 
Educational Dramatics. The teacher using dramatiza- 
tion in the schoolroom often gives all the children 
parts, if at all possible, even though they be such acts 
as representing trees and flowers in the stage-setting. 
In such a case there is no auditorium. All is stage — 
or, rather, fairyland — around which the curtains of 
imagination are drawn to shut out the things which 
would obtrude and mar dramatic realities. 

Large community productions often almost absorb 
the audience, for the people become the participants. 
Who will say that the mother sitting in one of the 



60 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

front seats, trembling with excitement before the cur- 
tain goes up, and who, when her child appears on the 
stage, proudly follows every movement and every line, 
is a mere onlooker? It is her production. She shares 
its activities. The boy who is allowed to paint certain 
scenery, the newspaper man who wrote some of the 
publicity articles, the merchant who sold at cost the 
cloth for the costumes, the lady who donated one of 
the properties for the stage set, the composer who wrote 
the music, the old man who was questioned in regard 
to some historical incident, and scores of others are 
likewise participants with those who take parts on the 
actual stage. 

A directly opposite principle prevails with the com- 
mercialized drama. People in the audience are not 
regarded as possible participants, but are made specta- 
tors, and robbed of a chance to contribute to the suc- 
cess of productions. Pleasing the crowd is always the 
aim of the stage manager, never the development of 
the actors and other paid specialists. The professional 
personnel are thought of only as instruments in pro- 
ducing effects and judged by their ability to get ideas 
and emotions across the footlights. Dramas presented 
are usually staged for commercial, not educational pur- 
poses, and their success is measured by applause, com- 
mendation, and box office receipts. 

Selecting the cast. — Since the aims of educational 
and professional dramatics are essentially different, it 
is quite natural that the methods of selecting the per- 
sonnel should be dissimilar. A professional director 
desires specialized actors, people with physical and men- 
tal quality and training which will enable them to 
satisfy the audience demand. On the other hand, the 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 61 

leader of a group in Educational Dramatics selects 
players who need the training the parts will give. 
Hence, the boy who is uncouth and rowdy may be 
chosen to play the role of a cultured and refined gen- 
tleman; the wealthy young man of ease may be as- 
signed the part of the worker; and the flippant and 
carefree girl, the part of the home-maker. 

In story-playing where the players are chosen by the 
children, and chosen because of fitness to play special 
parts or because of peculiar dress which will aid in car- 
rying on the illusion, a necessary function due to a lack 
of properties and stage-setting, a different principle is 
necessarily observed than that used by the professional 
stage manager. The players represent the group and 
interpret in the best manner possible the sentiments of 
those who have chosen them. This same idea may be 
carried out in educational productions for grown peo- 
ple. A class festival in college is a class festival even 
though all may not participate on the stage. So can 
a large production belong to a community. Then it is 
not any one individual who sponsors, and presents a 
production, but a city or a certain neighborhood. There 
is a great difference. One is the product of the in- 
dividual and a few professional assistants, the other 
the expression of the sympathetic and enthusiastic 
people. 

Illusion. — Creative imagination holds an important 
place in Educational Dramatics. When physical rep- 
resentation is impossible it triumphs in bringing into 
the scene the desired effects. With children in the 
imitative period it knows no limitations. It accepts 
the clumsiest substitutes and clothes them as beautiful 
and serviceable realities. Rows of chairs quite easily 



62 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

become railroad trains. Strange as it may seem, the 
inconsistencies of having to play whistle, bell, loco- 
motive chug, and brakeman never seem to embarrass 
the self-constituted conductor. Even more startling 
incongruities are overlooked in such "make believe." 
In the mind's eye a feather transforms a small boy 
into a ferocious Indian, and a few lines drawn on pa- 
per, with the aid of imagination, become living char- 
acters. The ready mind of youth is always ready to 
accept, or make, the proper symbols to create neces- 
sary illusion. Nothing staggers him. 

The Chinese in their national drama understand this 
principle of suggestibility. With them the making of 
the stage-set and the shifting of scenery becomes 
largely a mental process. A sign placed on a stick 
may state what a certain property is supposed to rep- 
resent. In a production like the "Yellow Jacket," 
which has been staged in this country, the property 
man in plain view furnished the essentials as needed, 
taking them from a big property box and placing them 
there again as soon as they had fulfilled their pur- 
pose. As with small children, a stick with a horse's 
head or some similar make believe is sufficient to carry 
out the desired effect. 

Among Educational Dramatic groups in America, 
illusion rather than reality of representation is the 
aim. By the use of neutral backgrounds which may 
suggest different moods as the colored lights are 
turned on them, and by the use of a few simple prop- 
erties, an atmosphere is given to the production. The 
advantage of this method is that the mind more satis- 
factorily fills in the necessary details than would be 
possible were paints and properties employed. Even 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 63 

on the professional stage this way of establishing illu- 
sion is growing in favor; but the general theater plan 
as yet, however, is that of doing most of the creative 
work for the audience. Professional costumers, scene 
painters, experts on lighting, and hired personnel in the 
theater usurp the rights granted by Educational Dra- 
matics to the audience, and shut them out of the per- 
formance, making them merely onlookers. Theater 
spectators have little part in the program. They are 
interested, of course, but not as participants. The 
payment of their money relieves them of all responsi- 
bility. 

Commercialization. — The American theater is a 
commercialized institution. It is not operated for 
pleasure, or primarily for the enlightenment of the 
people. It is controlled by business men for pecuniary 
gain. It would be inexact and unfair to insinuate that 
the financial motive prompts all actors and managers; 
yet it must be admitted that professionalization makes 
the stage a business proposition. It pays salaries, and 
incurs expense in promotion and production. In fact, 
each play is a speculative venture involving thousands 
of dollars, and hence it must "pay." Therefore its 
success is determined by box-office returns. This is a 
statement of fact, not a criticism. 

It will be seen at once what effect such limitation 
will have on the types of production. The crowd to a 
great extent becomes the determining factor. If it is 
depraved and demands the lewd and suggestive per- 
formance, there are plenty of managers who seek to 
commercialize such desires. Financial necessity may 
almost compel others to compete in portraying life 
which to normal beings is not only obnoxious but re- 



64 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

volting. When chided for allowing such objectionable 
features to be introduced the manager comes back with 
the statement : "I give the public what it wants. When 
it demands something different and is willing to pay 
for it, then I can furnish such a performance. I know 
where my bread and butter comes from, and I am not 
in business for charity." 

In Educational Dramatics the financial consideration 
does not exist or is of minor importance, and hence dif- 
ficulties encountered by the professional management 
are obviated. Salaries are not paid. Participants take 
part for the pure joy of playing. Initial expense for 
costumes, properties, promotion, etc., is kept down to 
the minimum. Usually a small admission fee suffices 
to finance any ordinary undertaking. This eliminates 
the professional and makes possible the use of local 
talent. 

The art of the people. — Perhaps as good a distinc- 
tion as could be drawn between educational and pro- 
fessional dramatics would be to say that the one is the 
product of an autocracy which governs by certain well- 
established rules and precedents; the other is the ex- 
pression of a democracy unfettered by tradition. Un- 
der these circumstances the latter is able to do, un- 
blushingly, what the professional terms the impossible. 
It enjoys freedom in creating new forms and enlarging 
the scope and interest of dramatic production. The 
modern tendency is toward the latter ideal. The Little 
Theater, community festivals, and all types of Educa- 
tional Dramatics are manifestations of this new spirit. 
While such may never do away with the professional 
playhouse, it is certain that they will give drama a 
greater place in community life and make it a thing 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 65 

of the people even as music has become a community 
means of artistic expression. 

Books for Reference 

Emma Sheridan Fry, Educational Dramatics. 

Hilliard-McCormick-Ogleby, Amateur and Educa- 
tional Dramatics. 

Alice Minnie Herts, The Children's Educational 
Theater. 

Helen L. Willcox, Mission Study Through Educa* 
tional Dramatics. 



66 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

CHAPTER V 
SELECTING THE THEME 

Great care should be exercised in selecting mate- 
rial to be dramatized. The interests of the participants 
need to be considered. In case of children's produc- 
tions this is particularly true. Certain types appeal 
to one age and will make little or no appeal to an- 
other. The play of the little child is imitative. For 
instance, it enjoys showing the way the rain comes 
down, and the way mother rocks the baby. The boy 
at the "Big-Injun" age, of course, does not like to play 
snowdrop. He wants excitement and action, and 
plenty of it. On the other hand, in the gawky, pin- 
feather stage, as Joseph Lee describes the adolescent 
boy, he doesn't have a strong desire to play Indian. 
He wishes to take the part of Sir Walter Raleigh, the 
courtier, the Romeo. 

It will thus be seen that to carry out the purposes 
of Educational Dramatics, which is to use the in- 
stincts and impulses for educational ends, we must 
know the nature of these motives and how they are 
naturally expressed in spontaneous activity. 

The Age Interests 

A study of child psychology is considered an abso- 
lute prerequisite in the selection of the lesson mate- 
rial for the graded Sunday school and day schools. 
Successful story-tellers also have learned, either by 
study or by much experience, the story interests of the 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 67 

different periods and have adapted their material ac- 
cordingly. A similar study and adaptation is neces- 
sary for all Educational Dramatic productions. The 
child's spontaneous interests and dispositions must be 
regarded. Only thus will the learning process be 
facilitated and complete selfhood developed. 

The make-believe period. — The make-believe pe- 
riod has often been called the age of dramatic imita- 
tion. The child impersonates nearly everything with 
which he comes in contact. He assumes the attitude 
of father, mother, big brother and sister, and has no 
difficulty in acting any of the roles. Dogs, cats, horses, 
and pigs can likewise be impersonated — rather the 
lives of these animals lived, for he has the power 
of putting himself in the place of what he represents. 
He feels an even closer kinship to dumb creatures than 
to mankind, sharing more sympathetically with them 
in their joys and sorrows than he does with human 
beings. To him the trees, the clouds, and the winds 
have a life that can be interpreted. He sees nothing 
strange in taking the part of a sunbeam or a raindrop. 
Often he does this spontaneously. The world is still 
a "make-believe stage/' and he can be the manager, 
property man, and the whole cast if necessary. Cos- 
tumes trouble him little. They are not essentials. And 
as for properties, they are easily improvised. Boxes 
can become trolley cars, or boats, or tables; and sun- 
baked mud assumes the likeness of flaky pie crust. Any 
happening can be staged and, thanks to the imagination, 
there are never Philistines in the audience. 

You may say, "Yes, we have plenty of secular 
rhymes and stories, dramatic games and finger plays 
suitable for children of this age, but what about mate- 



68 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

rial for religious education ?" That nature stories can 
be adapted to teach Christian truth will be quite evident 
to those who familiarize themselves with the work for 
the Beginner's Department of the church school. The 
Bible also is a storehouse of stories. 

Where can better be found than those of the baby 
Moses or of the child Samuel? In connection with 
songs and with the simple rhythmic movement so suit- 
able for this age both nature and Bible stories may be 
acted out and interpreted in a natural, "free-from- 
stagy" way. Suggestions and occasional assistance 
will suffice to direct the play activities of the children. 

The imaginative period. — He who has lived the 
happy life of childhood, where time and space and 
matter do not constantly shut from sight the nymphs, 
fairies, and eery creatures of the forest and stream, 
would never think of robbing the child of the heritage 
of folk legends, fairy tales, and wonder stories, now 
made available to all children. He realizes the value 
of this period and, throwing aside all dignity, play- 
fully goes hand in hand with the child to this en- 
chanted world; and sophisticated though he may be, 
tries to peer under the curtains for another glimpse of 
the fairy queen who once held him spellbound by the 
touch of her magic wand. 

Some children enjoy to the full this fanciful king- 
dom and linger long even after the gnome of age would 
drive them forever out of the fairyland into the world 
of reality. Others may never enter in. A few catch 
but a glimpse of the aerial forms as they are hurriedly 
pushed by. It is very difficult to say for just how many 
years the average person will eagerly drink in the se- 
crets of this imaginative realm. We know, neverthe- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 69 

less, its value. The great leaders of the world — those 
with foresight, the creators and men of genius — have 
lingered long in this period, to some, seemingly, a time 
given over to foolish fancies. They regard it as the 
most profitable of all since it has given them the 
desire to walk in and to clear unknown paths for the 
human race. 

There is an abundance of dramatic material for 
children of this age. There are the delightful books 
familiar to all who were ever initiated into the pleas- 
ures of childhood — Perrault, Grimm, and Hans An- 
dersen. Then there are the "Wonder-Why Stories," 
which account the beginning of things — for religious 
teachers the chief source book being the Bible. And for 
the latter part of the period when the child is passing 
to an interest in heroic characters there are legendary 
tales and folks myths. All such stories, of course, do 
not lend themselves to dramatization but many may be 
studied, and the suitable ones selected. 

As in the make-believe period, the child has the 
happy faculty of making dramatic illusion triumph over 
reality. Toward the latter part of the period, how- 
ever, this faculty may not be so pronounced and there 
may even be a distinct aversion to such make-believe, 
especially with boys. When the dramatic illusion, 
characteristic of early childhood, is regarded by the boy 
as "kid play," the constructive imagination may be 
utilized more and more. 

Certain types of motion pictures, puppet plays, and 
operettas are helpful in developing selfhood in that 
they make possible a satisfaction of the dramatic in- 
stinct. In them the fanciful creations are presented 
in an artistic and attractive way. The child should 



yo PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

not be so accustomed, however, to this type of per- 
formance that he will become discouraged in the ex- 
pression of his own imagination. Such productions 
should be introduced to stimulate rather than to 
satisfy. 

The heroic period. — The transition from the im- 
aginative period of childhood into the realistic period 
is to the child like the awakening from a dream. He 
has been living in a fanciful world and, of course, 
reality comes as a shock. For a time he seems dazed 
and hardly knows just what to do. He is bored in the 
not doing, and equally disgusted at the suggestion of 
any specific activity. The games of childhood are 
"kid games," and as yet he has not found new inter- 
ests. Shortly, however, he begins to pinch himself, so 
to speak, to see if the change has really occurred and 
that he is not again misled. Then he begins to inves- 
tigate the new world. 

He tests everything, and in getting excitement out 
of the effort and in competing with others, begins to 
take an interest in daring, spectacular feats. In the 
country this activity is really not harmful, since he 
usually stops short of breaking bones. The boy in the 
city and small town is often led into what to his way 
of thinking is "bully good fun with lots of thrills 
thrown in," but which may be carried out to such an 
extent that it becomes crime against society. Hence 
we see him in the police courts, and it looks almost 
as though nature in giving him his instincts which 
craved excitement and demanded daring action had 
willfully urged him on to his destruction. A careful 
study of this instinct, however, will show that such is 
not the intention. The impulse is essential. It trains 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 71 

him to be a leader with initiative, courage, and aggres- 
siveness. The evils following are the resultant of an 
improper opportunity for expression — rather the lack 
of a due means of expression. The task of a leader 
becomes at once apparent. He must furnish the proper 
outlet for this inherent desire. 

The boy at this stage admires the heroes of the 
race — the big, rugged, elemental men. He likes action. 
In fact, he cannot long remain inactive and his con- 
structive sense constantly keeps urging him to fashion 
— to create. He has a ready memory. He also has 
reached the stage where he takes delight in worth 
while accomplishments. 

With such a background the drama makes one of 
the most fitting forms of activity to gain his whole- 
hearted interest. The leader must remember, however, 
that not every type of production will appeal to him. 
He has outgrown most of the fairy tales and make- 
believe representations of his early childhood and will 
have nothing to do with them. But give him the 
chance to enact the part of a real, red-blooded con- 
queror, and he is in his sphere. He will hunt in books 
for fitting lines for his parts and will study designs 
that the sword and shield which he has made with his 
own hands may be fitting and superior to those made 
by his fellows. 

We are all more or less hero worshipers, and so 
there is no trouble in finding material for dramatiza- 
tion. There are the old legends, the national epics 
such as those describing the exploits of King Arthur, 
Beowulf, and Sigurd. We need not leave history, 
since many of the characters, secular and sacred, ap- 
peal to boy life. What would be more fitting than 



72 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

that a boy should portray the life of a Washington, 
a Robert Bruce, or a William Tell ? or, turning to the 
field of sacred history, that of a David, an Abraham, 
or a Paul? The currents of emotion which tingled 
through the nerves of these men and made them great 
will stimulate their understudies and prompt to heroic 
and honorable action. 

The period of group loyalty. — An awakening social 
consciousness characterizes this period. The boy who 
in the Indian stage was a little savage, selfish and ego- 
tistic, now joins himself to some small organization 
and begins to submerge his individual desires in the 
interests of those with whom he is bound by the inex- 
orable laws of the group. "Loyalty" becomes his slo- 
gan, and so much has this idea become a part of his 
nature that he seldom "peaches" on the gang, even 
when refusal to do so may cause him suffering and 
punishment. 

The boy is still a hero worshiper, but the hero as- 
sumes a different role. He is no longer the primitive 
cave-man type gloating in affairs of conquest which 
call for brute strength. He, as the boy, has become 
a member of society, and that demands loyalty and 
self-denial. Hence we find the hero the patriot who 
dies for the welfare of his country, the leader who is 
willing to sacrifice himself for some great cause, and 
the knight, gallant, devoted and chivalrous. As in the 
age of imaginative childhood, there is the desire to 
imitate and to deal with the fanciful. The boy becomes 
a "dreamer of dreams" and peoples his new world with 
ideal personages who accomplish spectacular results 
against stupendous odds. 

The nature of the boy and girl in this period is quite 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 73 

similar in many particulars. The girl is bound to the 
group, becomes less self -centered, but does not evince 
the same spirit of loyalty as is manifested in the boy. 
The boy is active, always on the go, while the girl may 
seem at times to be really indolent. Both are imitators, 
and it is hard to determine often which may become 
the more ludicrous — the boy affecting the manners of 
the hero of the gridiron, or the girl those of her favor- 
ite movie star who may differ altogether from her in 
temperament. 

The awakening of sex consciousness adds a romance 
to the life of both which may be helpful or harmful, 
depending largely upon the ideal that has been created 
by environment. In the boy it is often well to stimulate 
the romantic spirit under direction. The imaginative 
nature of the girl, however, is such that only when she 
is abnormal is this necessary. She is by nature more 
of a dreamer than her brother. 

The gang spirit makes possible larger undertakings 
of a dramatic nature than have been attempted before. 
Group loyalty is a new asset. There is a dramatic 
element in the gang itself as evidenced by the elaborate 
ritual of many organizations, the passwords, etc., 
which makes it a fertile field for work. Because of 
the inherent nature of the youth, historical incidents 
which picture altruistic leaders are especially valuable 
for dramatization. Emulation of such lives as those 
of Florence Nightingale, Nathan Hale, Joan of Arc, 
Sir Walter Raleigh, and even the gentler heroes of the 
Arthurian legends, will direct the romantic spirit into 
right channels. The missionary fields also have a great 
host of noble men and women whose lives might well 
be dramatized, and the Bible has some of the most 



74 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

worthy characters for representation to be found in 
any literature. 

Attention, however, should not be wholly given to 
the dramatization of historical incidents. Charades, 
dramatic "stunts," tableaux, and pantomimes may be 
used as popular means of entertaining, and rightfully 
handled they may prove educative. This is the age 
when the simple little comedy is especially attractive 
to the boy. He enjoys "taking off" the characters of 
peculiar people, and a minstrel performance always 
meets his approval. In the girl the desire for rhythmic 
expression is almost as strong an urge. She delights in 
graceful interpretive movements. 

The period of romantic idealism. — Who does not 
remember the "storm-and-stress period" of life — the 
time when the creative imagination was most active — 
the years of wistful yearning and egoistic planning? 
Life was like a day in April, fitful and changing. What 
trips the mind took! No limitations were set to its 
activities and accomplishments. In the world of 
dreams, and often in the world of "things as they are," 
it translated its possessor to unknown places and stimu- 
lated him to unusual feats of skill and daring. Not 
until stern reality obtruded was there a cessation of 
romantic imaginings. 

The egoistic reflections of youth cause him to feel 
different from every other person. He imagines cer- 
tain talents and abilities which will open the world of 
knowledge and invention to humanity. "When once 
he settles down to business," he thinks, "once gets 
away from the restraints of school and parental au- 
thority, he will do things." Just here comes the con- 
flict. Nature would make him a dreamer. Circum- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 75 

stances, on the other hand, shatter his hopes and aspira- 
tions by their "matter-of-factness" and compel him to 
think in terms of living necessities. This battle royal 
waged between inherent desires and environment 
causes distress and mental turbidity; and often evokes 
philosophic questionings which are distressing. 

The person of this period is a lover. It is the age of 
emotional sentiment. Youth falls in love with the 
world, with friends, with boy and girl companions, 
and with the beautiful. He even falls in love with the 
evil and destructive. The loved is idealized. Nothing 
compares with it. Imagination gives it an added 
touch of attractiveness. This fascination may find ex- 
pression in what has been termed as "mere gush." 
Usually, however, there is a deeper emotion which is 
safely guarded from the overcurious and inquisitive. 
Such sentiments are held sacred. Often one w r ould 
never imagine them present in certain individuals were 
it not for the occasional unconscious expression of that 
which flames within. 

Youth does very little alone. Cooperatively, work 
is undertaken, not because of obligation but because of 
affections. The gang spirit has given way to more 
intimate personal relationships. Sacrifice and self- 
denial are practiced that the ideal may be attained. The 
heroic makes a strong appeal. Many girls desire to 
become nurses and missionaries. Social service 
achievements attract boys. The great mistake of the 
church is that it has not recognized this inherent desire 
to serve and afforded it better direction. Unheeded 
this impulse soon fades like an unwatered flower. 

Physical, mental, and spiritual activity characterizes 
this age. Young people want to be doing things. They 



?6 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

are wrapped up in the enthusiasm of achievements. 
Athletics, debates, literary and social accomplishments, 
or whatever may be the ideal, command their whole- 
hearted effort. Sometimes this is the most productive 
period of life. Many of the world's leaders have at- 
tained their success and recognition before their twen- 
ties. Likewise, disheartening as it may seem, far the 
greater number of criminals are incarcerated before 
the same age. The desire for recognition and for the 
thrill which comes from idealized living plunges youth 
into disgraceful conduct as well as into altruistic serv- 
ice and worth-while creative effort. 

The task of the leader of young peeple is to sense 
the hidden desires, longings, and aspirations of each 
individual (they cannot be studied en masse) and di- 
rect activities which will bring out latent qualities, 
promote clean and wholesome living, and stimulate 
high ideals. Educational Dramatics is especially suited 
to this purpose. It affords an opportunity for creative 
effort in any number of ways — writing of script, de- 
signing of costume, painting of background, harmon- 
izing of colors, study of historical fact and customs, 
and interpretation of character. It enables the in- 
dividual to romp for hours in the world of dreams, 
gives him the thrill of exultation which possessed the 
character he plays, and quickens within him an enthusi- 
asm for righteous living. 

Pageant productions are suitable for this age. They 
call for few or no star parts, allow for a large number 
of participants, and stimulate expression without em- 
barrassment. In the hands of a capable director the 
play may be even more valuable. A "short cast" allows 
a careful study of individuals. Intimacies are estab- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 77 

lished. Directed play analyses emphasizes in a whole- 
some and acceptable way, the consequences of wrong- 
doing and the rewards of virtuous living. Facts 
gained in this fashion do not seem "preachy." Play 
experiences likewise leave vivid impressions and are 
not to be lightly regarded in moral training. 

The choice of the play or pageant nominally should 
be left to the players themselves. The director, how- 
ever, should direct them to worth-while dramas. If 
only the better productions are placed in the hands of 
players or committees who are selecting suitable mate- 
rial for dramatization, no embarrassing situations will 
arise caused by choices which would prove demoraliz- 
ing and unsuitable. 

The period of adulthood. — The characteristics of 
the adult period? One cannot classify the instincts 
of this period under one general head as has been done 
for the other age groups. The adult is motivated by 
what is left after the environment, good or bad, has 
stimulated or crushed the inherent impulses, plus the 
interests created by social and economic relationships. 

Of these latter interests perhaps that of the family is 
the one which colors life more than any other. It fur- 
nishes the romance which man craves. The commer- 
cial theater realizes the universality of this appeal, and 
so caters to it. If it were used to portray life at its 
best, it would be helpful. Often, however, the theater 
as evidenced by the portrayal of relationships in which 
deception and every manner of intrigue are glorified 
and the sanctities of life are made subjects of jests, 
creates wrong standards and is made the means of tear- 
ing down rather than building character. 

Demoralizing as have been certain manifestations of 



78 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

this interest in the family, it also takes man back to the 
glorious days of his childhood. It enables the father 
and son to enjoy together the old rhythmic games; and 
it is not at all certain who gets the more pleasure out 
of playing "Pat-a-cake" — the parent or the child. 
Fairies once more are given a place in life, as are also 
the red-blooded heroes and martyrs of truth. The 
reawakening of this dramatic instinct makes it possible 
for adult life to be filled with all the richness and beauty 
which characterizes that of youth. 

Charles Dillingham, one of the greatest psychologists 
of the stage, realizes that the family interest quickens 
the pull of all the old instincts and impulses in man, 
and so plans his spectacular pageant each year that he 
may meet this universal appeal. He furnishes the 
rhythmic movement and music of the kindergarten, the 
imaginative fairyland, the funny clown, the stunt man, 
the spectacular and thrilling features, the child imper- 
sonations, the reminiscent scenes which take one back 
to childhood, and even the tactful suggestion of sacri- 
fice and sorrows. 

Social Interests 

There is a distinct value gained from enlarging one's 
social sympathy and understanding. New interests are 
thus created. Educational Dramatics accomplishes 
this. It, however, follows the laws of psychology in 
attaining its ends. It introduces the new in the terms 
of the old. It realizes that "blood is not red a thousand 
miles away" and endeavors to bring facts close at hand 
through some personal connection. It establishes a 
point of contact with the individual. Unless this point 
of contact is established through some interest, any 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 79 

dramatic undertaking will be a failure from the stand- 
point of Educational Dramatics. For that reason an 
enumeration of some of the outstanding social inter- 
ests may prove suggestive. 

International interests. — There are certain interests 
which because of their universal significance may be 
called international. War creates many new points of 
contact. The same also may be said of commerce, art, 
religion, and great personalities. Three religions — 
Christianity, Mohammedanism, and Judaism — have 
focused the eyes of the world on a little, rocky, unfer- 
tile spot of ground — Palestine. Appreciation of art 
and culture has glorified Greece in our eyes, and drawn 
thousands of people annually to study the great mas- 
terpieces in Italy. Because of the influence of Marconi, 
La Fayette, Columbus, Garibaldi, Napoleon, and Flor- 
ence Nightingale events in connection with their lives 
attract our attention. 

The fact that coffee comes largely from Brazil, tea 
from China, and silk from Japan has acquainted us 
more or less with these countries and awakened a de- 
sire among us for an understanding of their customs 
and mode of living. Mention also should be made of 
the interest aroused in political science, international 
law, and world betterment, brought about by national 
conflicts and alliances. The late war is an illustration 
of this fact. Before we were actually involved in 
armed conflict, the majority of people gave it little 
consideration. But when neighbors, sons and brothers 
were in France many new interests were awakened — 
interest in the army, in individuals, in France and her 
people, in past history, in home problems and in new 
ideals. 



80 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

National interests. — People are more interested in 
their own nation than in any other. It is the cowboy 
of our plains that is pictured on the screen, not the 
cowboy of South America or Australia. The Indian 
is American and has been one of the main characters in 
nearly all of our historical pageants. The Mountain 
Whites, the Negro, the Westerner, the Yankee, and the 
Southerner likewise are of national importance. We 
must also include in this classification the people of our 
new dependencies — Cuba, Hawaii, the Philippines, and 
Alaska. 

The foreigner, in this country of many nations, 
brings with him many new interests. He usually 
comes with great expectations. He looks at our coun- 
try as the land of liberty, a place where he will be 
allowed opportunity to express that which economic 
conditions and oppression have hindered in the Old 
World. He brings with him the heritage of the past 
— the arts, learning, and ideals. He has sworn alle- 
giance to America, but he still loves the land of his 
birth, which is natural and nothing to cause us alarm. 
Loving the old country as he does, he is pleased to dress 
in native costume and to take part in any worthy 
dramatic production which will portray conditions with 
which he is familiar. In encouraging him to give such 
expression we put our stamp of approval upon the best 
of his racial heritage, and cause him to be influenced 
by it rather than the ideals of the slum district which 
too often is his home. 

National movements — religious, social, political, and 
economic — offer interests which are almost irresistible. 
Little urging is needed to secure the hearty support of 
suffragists in staging propaganda for their cause. Dig- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 81 

nified men will appear ridiculous, put on strange garb 
and give much time and effort to represent their organ- 
ization at a national convention, social or political. 
And for the sake of the church and its teachings, 
months of preparation will be willingly spent for a 
worth-while demonstration. 

Anniversaries, such as the birthdays of great men, 
some of which are celebrated as national holidays, fur- 
nish occasions for community pageants or for smaller 
productions suitable for schools and other organiza- 
tions — likewise, the celebration of such important an- 
niversaries as the Landing of the Pilgrims, the signing 
of the Declaration of Independence, and the founding 
of churches, or societies. 

Community interests. — Historical pageantry has 
been one of the most common forms of community ex- 
pression within the past ten years. The values — social, 
educational, and aesthetic — have been appreciated, but 
the movement has usually resulted in but one large en- 
terprise. There seems to be a feeling that the large 
pageant can deal only with historical subjects, and, of 
course, repetition every year is out of the question. 
Perhaps the misapprehension comes from the fact that 
organized pageantry in this country has usually repre- 
sented historical incidents. It is not so limited, how- 
ever. It can be made the means of expression for 
many types of community interests. 

The interest created by the visit of a notable citizen, 
the return of honored townsmen, soldiers, or even vic- 
torious athletic teams creates occasions for dramatic 
presentation in which many will be eager to cooperate. 
Every local community from time to time has problems 
of vital interest which may be visualized to the indif- 



82 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

ferent. Enterprising citizens with the welfare of the 
city at heart are glad to cooperate in such undertak- 
ings. When the value of dramatic expression as a 
means of education is made known commercial clubs, 
labor organizations, and other units in the communities 
will avail themselves of its possibilities since it will 
furnish the means whereby they may express their 
wants and their aspirations. 

Educational recreation. — A certain value attaches 
to productions intended largely for recreation and en- 
tertainment. Humorous and unpretentious little 
farces or comedies interest and refresh players and 
audience alike. Old folks enjoy dressing up for char- 
acter impersonations quite as much as do children and 
young people. A person who has been one of the 
players in a simple little neighborhood affair is ac- 
quainted with the real pleasure and enjoyment which 
comes from the rehearsals and the actual presentation. 
The worth-whileness of such production is shown in 
the animated faces and expressions of enjoyment. 

Frequently individuals in the community may plan, 
write, and stage these little dramatizations for social 
functions. Often they may be played in some neigh- 
borhood home or lawn. Subjects of local interest 
woven in plots give them a freshness and suitability 
that does not obtain with copyright productions. Lit- 
tle harmless jokes, quips, and the portrayal of well 
recognized eccentricities may keep people in a happy 
mood for weeks. 

Minstrels, mock trials, "take offs" on instructors, 
impersonations of musical organizations, burlesques 
"gotten up" for "stunt nights," simple dramatizations 
for literary society, club, or church affairs, and other 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 83 

like productions, all have their place in the educational 
field. Greater values often accrue from such presenta- 
tions than from those directed solely for educational 
ends. 

The Text 

Great care must be exercised in selecting dramatic 
material to be used in religious education. The same 
laws of selection which apply to the professional stage 
do not hold here. Other than entertainment or com- 
mercial values are to be considered. The day and place 
of production also complicates matters. Many dramas 
suitable for community hall have no place in the church 
auditorium, and some productions which could very 
well be staged during the week are not appropriate for 
Sunday evening services. 

Play Lists. — The question, "From whom can we 
order dramatic material suitable for church use?" can 
now be answered. Three quite exhaustive lists describ- 
ing plays and pageants have been compiled — Plays and 
Pageants for Church and Parish House, The Abingdon 
Press; Pageants and Plays approved by the Commis- 
sion on Church Pageantry and Drama, Protestant 
Episcopal Church; and A Second List of Plays and 
Pageants, Womans Press. 

Books for Reference 
Joseph Lee, Play in Education. 

Katherine Dunlap Cather, Educating by Story-Telling. 
Anne T. Craig, The Dramatic Festival. 
Norsworthy- Whitley, Psychology of Childhood. 
Luella A. Palmer, Play Life in the First Eight Years. 
Luther A. Weigle, The Pupil and the Teacher. 
Percival Chubb and Associates, Festivals and Plays. 



84 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 



CHAPTER VI 

STORY PLAYING AND OTHER SIMPLE 
FORMS OF DRAMATIZATION 

The "make-believe" play of childhood is the most 
spontaneous form of dramatic activity. It is a natural 
and common mode of expression, prompted by inher- 
ent impulses and instincts. No one teaches the child 
to play house, store, church, funeral and circus. Often 
the "little tot" works out elaborate stories in which 
he assigns the parts to doll characters. Such spon- 
taneous "pretend" activity blends with real life, con- 
tinues for days, and results from no suggestion on the 
part of adults interested. In other forms of such 
spontaneous expression children work together in 
"make-believe" play. They assign themselves roles, 
and, putting on long dresses and other like accessories, 
that they may the better impersonate their character- 
izations, dramatize familiar stories with a seriousness 
and self-forgetfulness that is an unending astonish- 
ment to those who have not been initiated into the 
wonders worked in the world of "let's pretend." 

As one is impressed by the great power of a Niagara, 
so is the teacher impressed by the irresistibleness of this 
"let's-pretend" spirit. It is the most potent force in 
the pedagogical world of the little child. Scientifically 
controlled it makes for efficiency in education. Hence 
a study of the methods by which it may be regulated 
for educational purposes is timely. This chapter pur- 
poses such a discussion. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 85 

Inducing Spontaneous Speech and Action 

The first and most important requisite for successful 
educational dramatization is to keep action and speech 
coordinated and spontaneous. Only when dramatic 
life delineation is natural — undertaken in the spirit of 
all "make-believe" play — is it of the greatest educa- 
tional value. Little or no benefit is derived from 
memorizing a part and producing it under direction 
which forces an interpretation. A stilted, unnatural 
theatrical performance results, which usually works in- 
jury to the player. 

Questions and suggestions. — The enlightened 
leader does not direct with stern hand and set rules. 
She respects the inherent nature and desires of the 
children and invites their initiative. No sooner does 
she hear the clink of the cloven hoof of the ogre, co- 
ercion, than she bars the door, for she knows that just 
as soon as he enters all the instincts and impulses 
which have been serving as individual tutors will scut- 
tle for shelter as people run from a thunder storm, and 
that nature's schoolroom will be turned topsy-turvy. 
Instead of saying, "Do this way," or "Don't do that," 
she stimulates self-expression and engenders enthusi- 
asm by questions and suggestions. 

The reaction of the child to the command, "Ex- 
press joy" is altogether different from that evoked by 
the suggestion, "Your mamma has been away for a 
long, long time, and you have gone down to the train to 
meet her. There, now, she has just stepped out of the 
car. See, her arms are open to greet you." 

Often a few words of introduction are sufficient to 
promote whole-hearted interest and spontaneity. As 



8,6 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

an example of this point: in the playing of a certain 
farewell scene in a simple dramatization, one little 
child stood indifferently and listlessly by. She failed 
to sense the situation. When a suggestion impressing 
the import of the occasion was offered, her attitude was 
immediately changed. The production became real to 
her — so real that she actually cried when she waved 
farewell the evening of the final performance. 

The child's viewpoint and limitations regarded. 
— For successful dramatization a sympathetic appre- 
ciation of the child's viewpoint and of his physical and 
mental limitations is necessary. Affectation and lack 
of spontaneity always characterize a production beyond 
the understanding of the child and out of harmony 
with his interests. A boy of twelve would be decidedly 
bored if cast for the part of a flower in a pantomimic 
dramatization. A girl of sixteen might experience 
pleasure in interpreting the spirit of the winds, the 
waters, or the forest ; but who could persuade her early 
adolescent brother to take such a part? His self-con- 
sciousness and his physical limitations unfit him for 
rhythmic and interpretative movement. It is equally 
distressing for the child in the imitative period who 
expresses himself by large bodily movements and sim- 
ple vocal mimicry to attempt extended dialogue and 
aesthetic group movement. 

The new, likewise, must be introduced in terms of 
the old before it can be appreciated and made a part of 
experience. If the city child through dramatization 
is to be initiated into the wonders of the out-of-doors, 
he must be led gradually into his new knowledge. A 
sudden translation will confuse and bewilder him by its 
strangeness. Temperamental differences and physical 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 87 

deformities or other abnormalities which make acting 
ludicrous must also be taken into account. In the final 
analysis, the regulation of dramatic activities involves 
a careful study of the individual player. The director 
must know the capabilities, knowledge, limitations, and 
interests of his personnel. 

The spirit of the director important. — A success- 
ful teacher goes hand in hand with her children into 
the world of play. She cannot awaken interest and 
stimulate imagination unless she herself becomes a part 
of the dramatization. If she is cold and indifferent, 
the children under her direction, likewise, will be list- 
less and play in a half-hearted way. Her mood is 
catching, and her attitude is reflected. Enthusiasm en- 
genders enthusiasm. 

A question put to child players may elicit a dozen 
different suggestions. Some of them will be apt; 
others farfetched. All must be received appreciatively, 
however, and the teacher must eliminate without check- 
ing spontaneity and naturalness. She must be sym- 
pathetic and must sense the disposition and needs of the 
different children. Some may need to be restrained 
to a certain extent — never snubbed. On the other 
hand, the reticent ones must be encouraged. Often it 
is wise to receive a suggestion made by a bashful or 
backward pupil, even though it needs to be changed 
before it can be incorporated in the general plan of the 
production. This awakens his interest. He gains con- 
fidence and feels that he has made a contribution. All 
children in a dramatization should be made to feel this 
sense of personal participation. When this is accom- 
plished, speech and action spring spontaneously, and 
the played experience assumes reality. 



88 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 



A Written Text Not Essential 

"Where can we find a suitable script?" is a query 
often made by those unfamiliar with the art of direct- 
ing children's productions. A written script and care- 
fully worded dialogue are not essentials; in fact, the 
educational method seldom encourages memorizing set 
speeches and parts. It relies upon the initiative and 
creative ability of participants. The lines of the pro- 
duction are those of the child, an expression of his life; 
and the action is that prompted by the dramatic situa- 
tion as conceived by the players. 

Dramatic imitation. — In the kindergarten and 
primary period mimicry assumes an important func- 
tion. The child at this age, of his own accord, imitates 
such movements of nature as the scampering of 
autumn leaves and the singing of the winds. He 
likes to pretend that he is a dog, a horse, or even an 
engine. He also likes to reproduce such noises as the 
who-o-o-o of the wind and the rhythmic tick-tock of 
the big clock. He needs no written script to en- 
able him to play his roles. He may be his own play- 
wright and make up his plays as he goes along. 

Often a "lesson thought" in the class of the church 
school may be dramatized. Then the simple drama- 
tization may be almost entirely the product of the child 
mind. The teacher furnishes the outline and suggests 
action. The children in the spirit of play interpret the 
parts. Suppose the lesson tells of God's love for the 
flowers. The following sketch reveals the possibilities 
of such expression : 

"I just wonder how the flowers would go to sleep 
in the autumn? How would they look? Do you sup- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 89 

pose they would rest their heads on the ground? And 
would they shut their eyes up tight? Yes, I expect 
so." 

"And then God would send the snowflakes, and they 
would enter just as quietly as could be. No, they 
wouldn't make a bit of noise. They would trip in, oh, 
so quietly — just as quietly as mother comes in baby's 
room when he is asleep. Yes, and they would cover 
the sleeping flowers with a great white blanket." 

"Why, yes, we can play it. But we will have to have 
some one for the flowers and some one for the snow- 
flakes. Emma, which would you like to be ? All right, 
you can be one of the flowers. Yes, you can be one of 
the flowers too, Olive ; and you too, Norma. No, no 
we cannot all be flowers. Some of us must be snow- 
flakes. Suppose we begin." 

"First the flowers will come in. No, the snowflakes 
must not enter yet. They must wait until the flowers 
are sound asleep in their leafy beds. Yes, the flowers 
are wide awake at first, and then they go to sleep one 
at a time. . . ." 

Common incidents dramatized. — Common inci- 
dents in daily life may be reproduced in classroom and 
home. The children of Teachers College at the Uni- 
versity of Columbia have constructed a play town in 
which all the activities common to a town are drama- 
tized. Goods are bought and sold over improvised 
counters. Cooking is done after the approved methods 
of the village. Social calls are made, and courtesies 
are extended. Of course such dramatization does not 
call for a written script. 

Many social settlements teach health principles, acci- 
dent prevention, home economics, and etiquette through 



90 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

play activities. What better method for teaching acci- 
dent prevention than the following: "Suppose we see 
whether we know how to cross the street. Now, re- 
member there are autos and trucks and delivery 
wagons. All right, Mary, we will let you try it first." 
(The child dramatizes the way she would cross.) 
"Did she do it right? What did she forget? Yes, 
she didn't look up and down the street before she 
started. That is right, she kept her head down. A 
driver of a car might not see her at all, and she 
might not hear the noise of his approach. Does some 
one else want to try it? I am sure that we can learn 
how after a few trials. . . ." The representation 
may be played over and over again until all of the 
children are taught the proper method. 

Impromptu reproductions. — A few days ago the 
writer observed one of the little girls of his parish 
passing down the street, dead to the world. Her lips 
were moving and she was making quick gestures with 
her hands. At the sound of her name she awoke with 
a start. Questions disclosed she was living over 
Charlie Chaplin's photo play, "The Kid." The 
query, "Why the gestures, Emma?" elicited the re- 
sponse, "I was just pretending I was putting the baby 
in another place." The incident was nothing unusual. 
Nearly every child with an active imagination lives 
over dramatic scenes he has witnessed. Often he acts 
them out with the assistance of others. 

This desire to reproduce dramatic scenes and inci- 
dents may be exercised for educational profit. It al- 
ready has been put to use by certain dramatic directors. 
Primary children in the Ethical Culture School in 
New York city, at their own request, re-acted a heavy 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 91 

play produced by older pupils for an assembly exer- 
cise. It was first produced in the classroom and then 
later given before the whole school. Emma Sheridan 
Fry, in Educational Dramatics, recounts the follow- 
ing impromptu dramatic performance played at the 
Educational Alliance on the East Side in New York 
city. 

"Miss Jesse McKinley, one of our most charming 
and capable class members, told the story, with happy 
gayety, explaining that it would thereafter be 'done,' 
first by the children who had practiced it some, and 
then that the children in the audience might come up 
and do it." 

"The story played with gusto! The audience was 
breathless. No scenery, no costumes ! Triumphantly 
the law proved itself. A performance that fully profits 
the player never fails to interest the audience." 

"Thereafter, the stage, across which no curtain was 
drawn, was put at the disposal of the audience chil- 
dren. Cast after cast, assigned haphazard, mounted 
the platform, and 'did' the story with the greatest ease, 
unction, and delight. The verities of the situation reg- 
ulated speech and movement. Real life processes re- 
sulted, and a corresponding dramatic illusion invested 
the whole. No two casts played alike." 

Story plays.*— A well-told story is sufficient to 
prompt dramatic activity. Especially is this so among 
the Latin races, and among such dreamers as the peo- 
ple of India. Indian children no sooner hear a story 
told than they " act it out." Chinese children, of their 
own accord, reproduce Bible stories taught in Sunday 
schools. The sacred festivals in the mission churches 
are usually celebrated by dramatization. The urge for 



92 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

dramatic expression is almost as pronounced among 
pupils of our day schools who have been "acting out" 
stories in the classroom. They do not need to be urged 
to participate. They have an inherent desire for im- 
aginative living and story-playing satisfies the inner 
urge. 

In story-playing it is customary to tell the story to 
the children, emphasizing certain features. Drama- 
tization then follows. At first the production may seem 
crude, and some of the pupils, especially the inexpe- 
rienced, may appear self-conscious. Questions and sug- 
gestions, however, will lead them to a clearer under- 
standing of their parts. The play is "worked up" by 
going over it time and time again. New material may 
be incorporated into the dialogue and new action added 
at each reworking. Cuttings also may be made. By 
this process of elimination, play analysis and synthesis, 
a story may be produced which represents the highest 
creative effort of all the child players. 

Spontaneity characterizes the performance when it 
has reached this stage. As there are no "lines" to 
learn, there is no danger of stagey delivery. As no 
set action is rehearsed, there can be no stiffness or 
practiced gesturing. The children do not realize them- 
selves as "doing a play." They frolic through the 
story in a delighted expression of their own ideas of 
it. Even on the final performance many changes may 
be made. If there be an audience, the player cares 
not. Indeed, player and audience may be interchange- 
able. 

Original productions. — Often children are able to 
write or plan suitable productions. The scholars at 
some of the vacation schools have added new scenes to 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 93 

familiar stories. One dramatization witnessed by the 
writer portrayed the purchasing of the material for 
Red Riding Hood's cloak. Miss Alice Paine, the 
teacher of such a school, cites one instance of a little 
girl, who with the assistance of an older person on the 
costuming, wrote and directed a play at Lake Placid 
during her vacation period. Foreign children near the 
Campbell Neighborhood House in Gary, Indiana, on 
their own initiative produced a festival in the street 
before hundreds of fathers and mothers. 

Greenwich Settlement, New York city, harnesses the 
dramatic instinct in its educational program. It is 
made the basic activity. The desire for dramatic ac- 
tivity provokes creative effort in music, painting, 
rhythmic movement, costuming, lighting, and writing. 
The need for appropriate music stimulates research and 
often prompts players to compose suitable selections. 
"Lines" also are written under such demands, scenery 
painted, and "stage business" determined. Quite elabo- 
rate dramas have been written and staged by these 
children with little outside assistance. 

Prologues, Preludes, and Interpolations 

Children's dramas are seldom complete in them- 
selves. Unlike the plays of the professional stage, 
special information of an introductory nature must 
often be given before the drama proper can be appre- 
ciated. This is usually accomplished by means of pre- 
lude, prologue, and interpolation. 

Prologues. — Prologues, which in Grecian and 
Elizabethan dramas assumed such important roles, 
have again returned and are frequently called into ac- 



94 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

tivity. Educational Dramatics features them, not for 
the sake of their quaintness but as integral parts of 
the performance. 

With children's productions, which often portray in- 
cidents and scenes rather than fully developed plots 
and themes, a prologue is essential, especially, if there 
is an audience. A knowledge of what has gone on 
before or what has been left out must be imparted in 
some manner. Absence of special accessories, such as 
costumes and properties, complicates the situation. 
This question presents itself : "How may we play this 
little incident without dramatic aids in such a way that 
both players and audience will be led into an under- 
standing of the motif and an appreciation of its sig- 
nificance ?" 

Sometimes with smaller children it may be necessary 
for the director by a few introductory remarks to pre- 
pare proper mental backgrounds for presentation. A 
distinct advantage obtains with older children, how- 
ever, if they are allowed to do the necessary research 
work to familiarize themselves with the facts and then 
make the introduction themselves. This research may 
be given to several players so that it may not be bur- 
densome. One child may study the costumes of the 
particular people under consideration; another the 
natural setting of the play; a third the peculiar cus- 
toms, modes of greeting, etc. ; another the whole story 
of which the dramatization may be a part. The in- 
formation gained may be written out and read if the 
players desire. It is usually much better, however, to 
encourage extempore speaking. 

As previously stated, in story-playing it is custom- 
ary to tell the story before dramatization. In the initial 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 95 

stages of production the director usually assumes this 
responsibility. It is well, however, to give this role to 
the players after they have begun to enter spontane- 
ously into the spirit of the production. Different ones 
in turn may be assigned to this part. The knowledge 
that such a privilege is to be theirs awakens an in- 
creased interest in the dramatization, and gathers into a 
whole the separate scenes and incidents. 

Musical preludes. — A distinct value attaches to the 
musical prelude. It has an important place in chil- 
dren's dramatizations. Of course it is not expected 
that large orchestras or choruses of trained singers 
can be obtained. Such is not desired. It would be out 
of harmony with the simplicity and unpretentiousness 
which characterizes the spontaneous dramatizations of 
schoolroom and home. Other agencies may be re- 
quisitioned, however. 

An appropriate piano number may strengthen the 
dramatic force of an incident, or it may through the 
principle of association create atmosphere and suggest 
desired moods. Children respond very readily to 
music, as has been demonstrated in the church school. 
Some "little tots" are so sensitive that even in baby- 
hood their reaction to different types of music is quite 
noticeable. 

Quite often in a dramatic program of a festival na- 
ture choral singing may assume an important part. 
An appropriate song as an introduction serves as a 
unifier. It makes the audience feel a part of the per- 
formance. The individual not only loses himself in 
the joy of personal expression, but also in the fellow- 
ship of song. Self-consciousness is forgotten in the 
pleasure of a common interest, and an attitude of com- 



96 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

panionship is established at the outset between player 
and audience. 

Interpolations. — Interpolations serve much the 
same purpose as preludes and prologues. They add 
color, create atmosphere, and advance the motif of 
the play through suggestion and explanation. Stage 
limitations may prevent the bringing in of certain inci- 
dents of vital importance. Frequently the child's in- 
ability to grasp the historic background or to get the 
historic perspective makes it difficult to act some 
scenes. Eliminations are necessary. Again, length or 
unsuitability of certain scenes may demand cuttings. 
Often an interpolation — a few words of explanation or 
music — is sufficient to bridge such gaps. 

The function of these interpolations is similar to that 
played by many of the interludes given between the 
acts of the early miracle and morality plays. They are 
unlike the interludes, however, in that they do not con- 
fine themselves to "between-the-act" assistance. They 
defy stage tradition and appear unceremoniously in un- 
expected places. 

The freedom from set and formal ideas of text and 
production makes Educational Dramatics quite friendly 
to this new aid which has been called into service. 
Dramatic cast reading, described in a later chapter, in 
all probability employs it to a far greater extent than 
any other dramatic form. 

Introductions of players. — When players known to 
the child audience are to appear in character costumes, 
a pretty form of prologue groups the players on the 
stage before the beginning of the play. Each player 
may in a little introductory speech make himself 
known in character. Or a player representing pro- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 97 

logue may do the introducing. Such device bridges the 
way to dramatic illusion, and accustoms the audience 
to accept its playmates in unusual guise. 

Aids to Dramatic Illusion 

Free dramatic play does not require a host of scene 
shifters, property men, and stage artists. Nature fur- 
nishes the assistants. Imagination designs the cos- 
tumes. Oh no, the adult doesn't see them. To him a 
bridal veil is just a piece of cheese cloth draped over 
the head of a little girl, and such things as glimmering 
fairylike garments are common school clothes; and 
Prince Charming is nothing but a barefoot boy with a 
wooden sword. But then he doesn't know. Age has 
blinded him. He thinks he sees, but having eyes, he 
sees not. 

Suggestion, another of nature's assistants, does truly 
wonderful things with just a few properties. She 
hangs up a Japanese lantern and all the people, as if 
by magic, are clothed in elegant silk costumes, and 
one can catch the fragrance of flowers and hear the 
tinkling of pagoda bells. The spirit of exuberance 
makes a dead past speak, resurrects heroes, knights, 
poets, and martyrs, and allows them to perform once 
again the deeds which placed them among the immor- 
tals. 

Costumes. — In costuming children's productions it 
is well to keep everything simple. The queen need wear 
no more elaborate gown than the servants. Some 
simple article of wearing apparel suggesting royalty — 
a gilded cardboard crown, or a piece of rolled paper 
held as a scepter may be sufficient to distinguish her 
from the other characters. 



98 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

Odds and ends of cloth, crepe paper, and other like 
material may be cut, folded, or tucked and utilized in 
any number of ways in getting costume effects. House 
dresses, hats, and window curtains, available in any 
home, may be called into service to induce dramatic 
illusion. A hooded raincoat makes an acceptable gar- 
ment for a Red Riding Hood. A blanket or shawl 
thrown over the head of a little girl at once suggests 
Indian, a cardboard helmet covered with tin foil trans- 
lates a boy into the world of play as a soldier, and a 
bit of white mosquito netting draped properly serves as 
a bridal veil. 

The teacher of imagination uses costume material at 
hand. Who would ever think of wrapping a child in 
bath towels that it might represent a white bear ? Mar- 
garet Eggleston, in The Use of the Story in Religious 
Education, describes a dramatization where this was 
done, and done effectively. Miss Edland once needed 
a savage chief in one of her Livingstone stories. She 
did not want to black a boy up. Finally a big feather 
pompom was found. That was sufficient for the part. 
Louise Burleigh tells of a play in which an apron was 
used in five different scenes. Once it served its real 
purpose. Then it was in turn — a butcher's apron, a 
court train, a dress for a doll, and finally a wimple and 
coif for a girl entering a convent. 

Properties. — The same general rules of simplicity 
and substitution, that apply to costumes, obtain with 
properties. Dramatic illusion does not suffer when 
makeshifts are employed. The ready imagination of 
the child accepts substitutes which to the adult may 
seem crude. Crudity does not bother the little young- 
ster. He overlooks such a thing. The interest awak- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 99 

ened in what the object seems to him triumphs over 
actuality. The crude gives his imagination full play. 
The perfect in detail hampers his creative efforts and 
demands conformity. Invariably he will choose the 
former. Mrs. Mary Lowe states that in certain "bot- 
tle-doll" performances staged for experimental pur- 
poses a small house was needed. The children were 
given the choice of two — one hastily constructed out 
of cardboard, and one painted, and carefully made by 
a carpenter. Always the crudely constructed one was 
chosen. 

Crowns, spears, reaping sickles, stars, crescents, and 
what not may be cut from cardboard. Hockey clubs 
lengthened and wrapped serve as shepherds' crooks. 
A curtain thrown over an elevated highbacked chair 
will make this easily secured property do for a throne. 
A few branches cut from trees suggest the out-of- 
doors. A piece of burlap tucked around a footstool 
gives it the appearance of a stone. Fireplaces may be 
constructed of boxes covered with red paper. 

Those interested in proper accessories for Bible 
plays will do well to study The Dramatization of Bible 
Stories, by Elizabeth Erwin Miller. Certain chap- 
ters of this book go into a detailed description of 
Oriental costumes and properties and discuss methods 
by which they may be made. Miss Miller feels that a 
distinct advantage obtains in certain types of biblical 
drama through adherence to historical accuracy. As 
a result she has stimulated research, and by counsel 
and suggestion, assisted her child players to make their 
own costumes, properties, and stage-sets. 

Stage-settings. — Stage-sets for children should be 
characterized by simplicity and suggestiveness. Elab- 



ioo PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

orate, ornate, and "cluttered scenery" confuses and de- 
feats the purpose for which it is supplied. In many 
classroom dramatizations stage-settings may be dis- 
pensed with altogether with no serious loss. Children 
can imagine desired situations. They do it in their 
own "make believe" play. Often, however, even where 
the schoolroom becomes stage, a few simple properties 
and hangings may aid in creating dramatic illusion. 
Appropriate colored pictures drawn on blackboards are 
helpful, as are also pictures, "cut-outs," and festoons 
of leaves pinned to the walls. 

At times, curtains, draperies, and Japanese screens 
may be employed to good advantage. In home produc- 
tions, sliding doors or portieres may serve in place of 
drop curtains and enable players to make simple 
changes in costumes and stage-settings. 

Grease paints. — At first thought it may appear to 
many people that grease paints have no place in chil- 
dren's productions. Paint and professionalism seem 
inseparable. Such is not the case, however. There is 
no greater, cheaper, or simpler aid for creating dra- 
matic illusion than a little bit of color. A trial will con- 
vince the most skeptical. 

Books for Reference 

Percival Chubb and Associates, Festivals and Plays. 

Constance D'Arcy Mackay, How to Produce Chil- 
dren's Plays. 

Emma Sheridan Fry, Educational Dramatics. 

Elizabeth Erwin Miller, The Dramatization of Bible 
Stories. 

Mae Stein Soble, Bible Plays for Children. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 101 

Hilliard-McCormick-Ogleby, Amateur and Educa- 
tional Dramatics. 

Norman E. Richardson, editor, The Dramatic In- 
stinct in Children, Dramatics in the Home, Story- 
Telling in the Home, The Use of Dolls in Child- 
Training. 



102 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

CHAPTER VII 
A MEANS OF TEACHING 

In the use of play motives and activities in educa- 
tion there are two dangers. Some teachers in endeav- 
oring to employ them for educative purposes overdo 
the thing by too much directing. Through tiring the 
child and killing all enthusiasm and spontaneity play 
becomes drudgery. The more it is forced and unnat- 
ural, the more its pedagogical value is lessened. 
Others, enthusiastic in the discovery of these divinely 
implanted interests and motives, feel that all that is 
necessary on their part is to furnish the proper mental 
and physical background and "let the child go to it." 
They work on the assumption that direction of play 
activities is not necessary — that the instincts and im- 
pulses are self-sufficient. 

It is true that the spontaneous play activities of 
animals do fit them directly for future life. Among 
savage peoples, where the wants are few, the same 
may hold true; but in our complex civilization with 
its many demands on the individual, outside direction 
must be provided. One learns by doing. There is 
no denying that. But one may learn to be either 
an enemy of society or a desirable citizen. For in- 
stance the instinctive desire to be pugnacious asserts 
itself in every normal boy. Given the proper expres- 
sion this impulse will be that which prompts him to 
champion the cause of the weak and to fight injustice 
and deceit. Given the wrong expression, it makes him 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 103 

an outlaw — the cave man motivated by self -centered 
impulses. Breaking car windows is unsupervised 
base-ball. 

The task of the teacher is to supervise, to guide the 
child's expressional activities. Play is purposive, but 
the child in his play must be helped to find and pursue 
wholesome purposes. Through play he can discover 
the joy of noble incentive, faithfully followed. As the 
tree takes from the ground elements necessary for its 
growth, so may the child in his play life gain knowl- 
edge and dispositions which will fit him for life. These 
values must be placed within his reach, however. The 
farmer studies his plants, learns what they need, and 
if necessary, supplies certain acids and limes. The 
successful teacher watches the child, and likewise, fur- 
nishes the proper mental and social stimuli for growth. 

The question now before us is, What are the dra- 
matic means by which the goals of religious education 
may be attained ? That question can best be answered 
by giving examples and descriptions of successful dra- 
matizations together with suggestions for dramatic 
projects. 

Educational Dramatics Imparts Useful 
Knowledge 

The impartation of useful knowledge is one of the 
aims of education. Dramatic method is able to accom- 
plish this end. Biblical geography and biography, so- 
cial and religious truths, health and hygiene all may be 
taught through dramatic production. 

Teaching biblical geography. — Facts concerning 
climate, customs, locations of cities, rivers, and plains; 
distances and means of communication, all may be in- 



104 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

terwoven into dramatic productions. For instance, a 
replica of a relief map of Bible lands may be worked 
out on a large scale in some vacant lot. A load or two 
of sand and gravel would assist materially. They are 
not at all essential, however. Mountains may be 
formed ; a proper slope given the land ; wells, seas, and 
lakes represented; and all other natural features, such 
as roadways, springs, pools, and gardens, duplicated. 
Houses, temples, tents, trees, boats, chariots, and other 
properties may be added as needed. With older chil- 
dren historic accuracy should be adhered to as nearly 
as possible. One of the advantages of the project is 
that it stimulates careful research, study, and observa- 
tion. 

Perhaps a few suggestions in regard to details may 
prove helpful. If a hydrant and hose are near at hand, 
water can be made to run in river courses. A little bit 
of cement will keep the water within the banks. A 
lake bed may also be made of the same material. An 
old wash boiler, bent into the desired shape, sunk in 
the ground and partly filled with dirt and gravel does 
equally as well unless it is too small for the scale of the 
reproduction. Twigs may be placed along the streams 
and roads to represent trees. Highways may be con- 
structed by patting the earth down until it is quite level. 
Rocks and small stones placed in suitable places add 
natural color and serve as admirable hiding places for 
robbers and thieves. 

A study of the wanderings of the Hebrew people 
and their subsequent entrance into Canaan would bring 
out many points of geographical significance, as would 
also the missionary journeys of Paul. Many of the 
main incidents of biblical history could be dramatized 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 105 

by the use of "cut-outs," such as toy personages, 
camels, donkeys, sheep, and cattle. These "cut-outs" 
can be made of wood, cardboard, or even of stiff paper. 
Children enjoy making these necessary properties and 
accessories. Yes, boys will "take hold" of such hand- 
work. In recent dramatizations attempted by the 
writer nine-year-old boys manifested more interest and 
showed more creative ability in designing costumes, 
making properties, and arranging stage-sets than did 
the girls of the same age. 

Teaching Bible history. — Any method which will 
familiarize the people of America with the Bible — 
make the heroes of Israel stand out as living personali- 
ties — may be considered of special value; for to the 
average individual the Book of books lacks living 
quality. It should not be a forgotten record of an 
idealized past, but, rather, the resounding clarion call 
to nobility of life and to immediate service. 

The drama will make it a living book, one which will 
challenge the attention of young and old. Suppose 
the story of David and Goliath — a favorite with boys 
in the Junior age — were to be "acted out." Immedi- 
ately a point of contact is made with the Scriptures. 
The story must be told or read in the process of anal- 
ysis. In finding out what type of character each per- 
son is, how he would dress, what he would carry, how 
he would act, and what he would say, repeated refer- 
ence must of necessity be made to the particular pas- 
sage from which the story is taken, and also to others 
which have direct bearing on the subject. The pro- 
duction becomes a problem — a center of interest; and 
although it may be crude as presented at first, it gradu- 
ally becomes a more finished production and under 



106 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

proper direction will teach a message which will influ- 
ence future life. 

Missionaries have employed the dramatic method of 
teaching religion to a people who are unable to read 
the gospel. Perhaps it would be better to say they have 
directed the dramatic activities for purposeful ends, 
for the dramatic instinct is inherent among all peoples. 
One Eurasian Bible woman in Burma goes from place 
to place improvising songs based on Scripture stories, 
and by the use of symbolism and dramatic action con- 
veys to her people, who are for the most part unlet- 
tered, a knowledge of sacred truth. One of her favor- 
ite stories is "The Lost Coin," and her method of 
presentation is much like that used in story festivals 
which have become quite popular in certain sections of 
our country. 

Even the professional theater has taught much Bible 
to America's great unchurched masses, as evidenced by 
the recent production in New York city — on Broadway 
— of the Book of Job, by Stewart Walker, an almost 
literal production of biblical script. The Drama of 
Isaiah has also been successfully staged, as have many 
more productions of a religious or semireligious na- 
ture. The "Wayfarer Pageant," the lines of which are 
almost altogether biblical, was shown for a month in 
the Madison Square Garden. At many of the per- 
formances the auditorium, which seats over five thou- 
sand people, was not large enough to accommodate all 
those seeking admission. 

Interpreting social and moral ideals. — Jesus taught 
largely through parables, figures of speech, and sym- 
bolic language. It was a common means of interpret- 
ing truth in his day. The following excerpt from a 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 107 

letter written by L. E. Linzell, a missionary of India, 
shows the practical use to which this method of expres- 
sion may be put today in presenting moral and social 
questions. It explains in a far more understandable 
way the significance of the story of the Good Samari- 
tan than could an abstract presentation: 

"Recently I was invited by the Epworth League of 
Baroda to a social event which was to be held on the 
Mission Compound. On my arrival I found that a 
great company had already assembled. Facing the 
company a large square had been marked off by bam- 
boo poles, about fifteen feet apart, with festoons of 
Asoka leaves draped from pole to pole. I soon saw 
that we were to be favored with an interpretation, from 
an Oriental standpoint, of one of the parables of our 
Lord. 

"The event opened by a young man dressed as a 
well-to-do merchant with a pack on his back, advanc- 
ing down the country road. The merchant seemed 
somewhat footworn and decidedly ill at ease; for he 
frequently cast glances from side to side. At a turn 
in the road six thieves pounced upon him, stripped him 
of his valuables, beat him with clubs, and leaving him 
half dead, made off with their booty. 

"Very soon along came a Brahman of the priestly 
class. As soon as he saw the unfortunate man he made 
for the opposite side of the road. Next a high-caste 
merchant came around the bend, and after stooping 
over and looking at the man said 'Not in my caste/ 
and hurried on. Next was seen a trader riding along 
the road on a donkey. As soon as he saw the dying 
man he leaped to the ground and hurried to where he 
was. After turning the poor fellow over to see 



108 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

whether he lived, he tore a strip off from his own tur- 
ban and bound up the wounds. From his own water 
vessel he gave the wounded man a drink of cold water 
and then with difficulty lifted him on the donkey and 
carefully carried him to the next village where he was 
taken to the rest house and cared for. 

"The whole parable was so well interpreted that it 
meant more to all of us than ever before. After re- 
freshments we went home feeling the lessons of the 
Holy Book are particularly adapted to the Indian 
mind/' 

Teaching biography. — Would you teach your chil- 
dren facts about the life of Martin Luther, John Knox, 
or any of the other great leaders of the church? Then 
try a "bottle-doll" or "clothes-pin-doll" performance 
for their benefit. Methods employed by the writer to 
portray the "brand- from-the-burning" episode in the 
life of John Wesley may prove suggestive for other 
similar undertakings. 

A cardboard house constructed by one of the boys 
represented the rectory. Bottles and clothes pins were 
dressed for the several members of the Wesley family. 
Charles Wesley, the baby, was a small medicine bottle 
with a white cloth wrapped around it. John Wesley 
was a larger bottle dressed in similar fashion. The 
father was a clothes pin garbed in clericals. A bit of 
white cotton made his wig. The other characters were 
also clothes pins. The introduction, story, and action 
were much like the following : 

When John Wesley was almost six years old some- 
thing happened to him which he remembered all the 
days of his life. His father was a preacher and had 
told the people in the village of their wickedness. This 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 109 

angered some of them. On two occasions masked men 
set fire to the house, the last time in the middle of the 
night. No one saw them at their wicked work, and 
before people were aware of the fact the house was 
all aflame. The family escaped with difficulty. 

Now, I am going to tell about it and show just how 
it all happened. This little, teeny bit of a doll is 
Charles Wesley, the baby. See, he is dressed in his 
night clothes. This one is John. This one with the 
wicked-looking face and with the tattered clothes is 
the one who sets fire to the house. But then I do 
not need to tell you all about it now. We can recognize 
the characters when they come into the scene. 

Here is the house in which John and his parents 
lived. They are all inside now; for it is nearly mid- 
night. They are fast asleep. Everything is quiet, just 
as quiet as can be — not a thing moving. Yes, there is 
too. See, 'way down there in the shadows. See that 
head. (Head of the man who burns the house is 
stuck out over the edge of the table. This figure and 
the others are moved as the story indicates. ) See how 
carefully he looks about one way and another. Now 
you can see his whole body. I wonder what he is going 
to do. He is sneaking — sneaking along in the shadows 
of the buildings. A dog barks. He stops a moment. 
He surely must mean some harm. 

He is going to the house. He kneels down. Yes, 
and he pours some oil on the trash he has carried with 
him and lights it and runs away. See the flame (a 
piece of red tissue paper is pulled up over the edge of 
the table near the corner of the house). Now it is 
covering the whole side of the house. The roof is 
aflame. I wonder why some one doesn't see it and 



no PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

cry, "Fire ! Fire !" Pieces of the roof must surely be 
falling in by this time. Yes, some of the fire falls on 
Hetty, one of the older children. She runs to tell her 
father. They rush from the house. They are safe. 

No, no, they are not all there. John is not there. 
They are all there except him. Father Wesley runs to 
the stairway. It is all aflame. He tries to climb it. 
It is too hot and the fire drives him back. He tries it 
again — and again. He cannot get through. John must 
have been asleep when the nurse told them all to come, 
for he didn't follow. Yes, he was asleep and didn't 
hear. The light wakes him. He thinks it is morning 
and calls to the nurse. She doesn't answer him. Then 
he smells smoke and runs to the stairway. The blaze 
scorches his face as he opens the door. He cannot get 
down. He runs back to his own room again crying 
with fright. He climbs on a chest of drawers over to 
the window. The roof over his head is now ablaze. 
He cries out to some of the people who have gathered 
below. The crackle of the flames drowns out his voice. 

Suddenly one of the men below sees him. It is too 
late to get a ladder. Surely he will be burned to death. 
No, see, a big man is lifting a little man to his shoul- 
ders. This one reaches up to grasp the boy but falls. 
Again he is lifted up. This time he catches hold of 
John and pulls him out of the window. It is just in 
time; for the roof has now fallen. 

All the people rejoice, John Wesley's father above 
all. I wonder why he is gathering all the people about 
him. They are kneeling down. And now he is thank- 
ing God for the deliverance. May we also thank God 
that he saved John Wesley, the founder of a great 
church, from the flames. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION in 

A short prayer concludes the story. 

Teaching principles of health and hygiene. — The 

Child's Health Organization has used the dramatic 
method to spread propaganda among the children of 
America. Cho-Cho, a clown who demonstrates health 
and happiness through droll antics and humorous ac- 
tion ; the Picture Man, who makes vegetables perform 
in miniature drama through the use of chalk ; and the 
Health Fairy, who comes all the way from Fairyland 
to tell and demonstrate the results of health and hap- 
piness, are the main characters used. 

Who can imagine the joy and pleasure a "really 
and truly" Health Fairy with lovely silver wings and a 
gown of moonlit mist might give to the children of an 
East Side district in New York city. They would 
listen to every word she said; for, of course, she could 
grant them "most every wish they desired." And if 
she promised to play only with those who kept their 
windows open and washed their teeth each day, why, all 
of them in the future would be very, very careful. 

A picture man who could draw milk bottles, coffee 
pots, and carrots, and then with a few swift strokes 
change them into picture people who could talk would 
be no less interesting. Crayon pictures themselves are 
always fascinating; but pictures that play stories and 
rattle off rimes are truly wonderful. Just think of a 
beet or a turnip turning into a man, and of a converted 
milk bottle giving a health lecture. Surely, one who 
can bring such things to pass is a "miracle man." 

Clowns also are attractions. They and the horse- 
back riders and the animals make up a circus. My, 
my, what a treat it would be to have a circus on the 
street in front of your own house! Why, of course, 



ii2 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

you would laugh at the clown's droll antics and try to 
comb your hair, wash your hands, and do other like 
"stunts" just as he did. That would be fun. 

Educational Dramatics Creates Proper Atti- 
tudes 

Christian education must of necessity concern itself 
with human attitudes. Man's attitude toward his fel- 
low men and toward God determines to a great extent 
his future course of action. How to arouse sentiment 
and create new outlooks upon life also is the problem 
of religious educators. Religion should create an ap- 
preciation for all the better and ennobling things of 
life. The growing popularity of dramatization as a 
method of awakening social, aesthetic, and intellectual 
interests, and of creating and sustaining Christian 
bearing toward one's fellow men, indicates that it is 
serving a truly educational purpose. 

Appreciation of art. — How to bring children to an 
appreciation of the best in literature, music, painting, 
and sculpturing is a problem of both religious and sec- 
ular educators. It is not insoluble. Other nations 
have accomplished this end. Dutch peasant women 
wheeling their carts to market hum and sing the clas- 
sics. Italians of America who work in the restaurants 
and even in railroad gangs, often, are familiar with the 
best paintings and sculpturing and will make attempts 
at reproduction. The Spaniards take an interest in 
the arts, especially literature, and their poetic fancy is 
given expression in verse. Through it they make 
known their joys and sorrows in love ballad and death 
song. And all over the continent will be found hand- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 113 

workeis who have wrought out pleasing designs in 
metal, wood, and stone — brass vases skillfully pounded 
out and engraved, wood carvings dexterously fash- 
ioned after well-known models, and other artistic 
creations expressing the initiative of the worker. 

School children in many places, through the use of 
prints and pictures, music and literature, are made 
familiar with the masterpieces. The public art galler- 
ies, museums, libraries, and playgrounds, through 
story-telling and handwork, have also attempted the 
solution of many educational problems. 

Dramatic activities, likewise, have been encouraged, 
that the aesthetic sense of the younger generation might 
be developed. It has proved itself to be an aid of the 
highest value. For instance, suitable dialogue is 
needed for the drama of Ruth. The familiar lines, 
"Entreat me not to leave thee . . ." become at once 
a part of the child's repertoire. A biblical tableau 
calling for exactness of detail is to be produced. The 
works of master painters are gone to as models. Fig- 
ures on Greek vases, tapestries, and frescoes are studied 
for ideas of line, mass, form, and color. A knowledge 
of dramatic technique and an appreciation for the best 
of literature are gained through a reading of the classic 
plays and better poems and novels. Musical introduc- 
tions and musical selections which are an integral part 
of the text cultivate a desire for better, worth-while 
compositions. There is scarcely an art which may not 
find expression through dramatic undertakings. Inter- 
est in histrionic presentation stimulates an appreciation 
for all artistic endeavors. 

Patriotism. — Patriotism, in reality, is not taught 
through instruction alone. It is felt. Mere memoriz- 



H4 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

ing of preambles, learning the names of Presidents, 
and being able to recite a few patriotic sentiments does 
not make a good American; neither does birth. An 
immigrant coming from Russia or some other coun- 
try of oppression may be more truly American than 
many native-born. This country may mean. more to him. 
Perhaps it has freed him from an age-long bondage. 
He realizes that his property is safe; that his children 
will never see their father and mother dragged from 
their burning dwelling, maltreated, and killed. He 
thrills with excitement when he sees the flag go by. 
Is it strange? That is the symbol of the country which 
has given him his new birth. 

True, one may never be able to awaken such a feel- 
ing of gratitude among all school children. They can- 
not sense the true meaning of freedom as they to whom 
it has once been denied. Through dramatization, how- 
ever, to a certain extent they may be led into an appre- 
ciation of what the country has meant to its founders, 
its defenders, and its most devoted citizens. When the 
signing of the Declaration of Independence is "acted 
out," as it is frequently done in many of the grades in 
connection with American history lessons, an under- 
standing is gained of the conviction, spirit, and sense 
of duty which dominated the men who had the courage 
to defy the mother country. Playing the part of Lin- 
coln admits one into an intimate relationship with the 
martyred President. For the time being, one lives the 
part. Secrets and feelings that cannot be expressed in 
words become his. The same holds true with all spon- 
taneous character delineations. 

For instance, a certain college in the Middle West, 
at the time of the presidential campaign of 1912, 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 115 

staged a mock patriotic rally. The band played, peo- 
ple in the audience clapped and cheered their respective 
candidates and the spirit of such a rally was duplicated 
in all the details. If I remember correctly, Woodrow 
Wilson, William Howard . Taft, Eugene Debs, and 
Theodore Roosevelt were all present. A study of the 
political issues necessary for the characterization of 
the part of Theodore Roosevelt awakened a new spirit 
in the young man who took that role. His speech was 
not a mock affair to him. He put his whole soul into 
it. Roosevelt himself could hardly have been more 
moved in the declaration of the principles of the cam- 
paign. 

The social aspects of the platform made a special 
appeal to the "understudy" of the Great American, as 
they would to any youth, for youth is the age of altru- 
istic awakenings. He was stirred to his innermost 
being as he reviewed the injustice done the submerged 
classes, and he flamed with righteous indignation as he 
scathed the men behind the "Invisible Government' ' 
who profited by such iniquity. The reaction to the 
characterization was more than momentary. It de- 
termined what should be the dominant motive in a life, 
and proved in practice that an "acted-out experience" 
may have the force of a "real-life experience." 

World-wide sympathy. — Would you create a 
world-wide sympathy in your church, a desire for the 
evangelization of non-Christian peoples? That is en- 
tirely possible if you start soon enough. A girl will 
always remember the need of India after she has felt 
the sense of depression and utter hopelessness which 
came to her when she played the part of a child widow 
in a missionary dramatization. 



n6 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

Proper attitudes toward foreign peoples may be 
evoked in many ways. Mothers in the home or teachers 
in the school may plan excursions into foreign coun- 
tries. A box or a string of chairs may be the convey- 
ance which takes the traveler to the strange land. 
Older children who have been prompted beforehand 
may be the natives in the villages entered. They can 
describe their houses, making great use of the "pre- 
tend spirit." They can also act as guides and show 
their mission stations and the hospitals where people 
are being treated. Perhaps they might add local color 
and make more vivid and lasting impressions by sing- 
ing songs and conducting services in true native style. 
The journey could well be closed by sitting down to 
a meal characteristic of the country visited. Of course 
rice would be served in China and tea in Japan. 

Under the direction of the missionary superintend- 
ent of the church school, doll exhibits, likewise, may be 
made. Different classes may assume the responsibility 
for dressing the dolls and fashioning miniature stage 
accessories. A boys' class would take pleasure in lay- 
ing out an African village with its grass huts. A 
girls' class could blacken cheap dolls such as can be 
purchased at the ten-cent store and dress them in native 
costume. Dolls representing missionaries could be 
given the names of prominent men and women. On a 
special day when the different booths representing all 
the countries are completed, fathers and mothers and 
friends may come to see the exhibit. It may be that 
parents who have assisted the children in some of their 
planning of costumes and properties will receive more 
help than the children themselves. 

Miss Mary Rolfe, of Champaign, Illinois, has been 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 117 

conducting an unusually interesting course in mis- 
sionary education in one of the churches. She has 
taken the part of a Mohammedan, and the high-school 
pupils with whom she has been working have tried to 
convert her to Christianity. All types of arguments 
have been advanced — many of them the result of hours 
of research into Mohammedan customs and Christian 
realities. In this study they have not only sensed the 
evils of non-Christian religions, but have also gained a 
clearer insight into their own religion and acquired a 
reasonable faith. And it has all been a great game — 
not an irksome moment in it. 

Educational Dramatics Determines Character 

Any educational system of training in religion is a 
failure which does not promote Christian conduct and 
build Christian character. Educational Dramatics 
does achieve these essential results. 

It moves men to action. — The results attained by 
the production of the "Mass Movement," a pageant 
depicting the heart hunger of India for a gospel which 
satisfies the inner longings for soul peace, reveals the 
possibilities of dramatic expression as an evangelizing 
agency. This pageant was first produced in a corner 
of the India Building at the Centenary Celebration of 
the Methodist Churches in Columbus, Ohio. It at- 
tracted so much attention that it was made more than a 
side exhibit and was staged in a larger way. Later it 
was produced in the open before thousands of people. 
So vivid and realistic were the representations of vil- 
lage life that Bishop Warne, who was familiar with con- 
ditions in India and who frequently prefaced the pro- 



n8 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

duction by a few introductory remarks from his own 
experience, was so moved that he could scarcely con- 
trol his emotions. As Jesus looked down on the city 
of Jerusalem and wept when he saw all the sin and 
iniquity, so the bishop and all others who saw the 
pageant production looked down upon the great need 
and soul hunger of India. 

After the Centenary Celebration several of the mis- 
sionaries from India went out, two by two, and pro- 
duced the pageant in different parts of the country. 
Usually other people to the number of fifteen or twenty 
were asked to assist. A short practice before the pre- 
sentation was sufficient for them to get their parts. 
Everything was given impromptu. The "verities of 
the situation determined action and dialogue/' 

The following excerpt from a letter written by W. 
H. Bancroft, one of the missionaries producing this 
pageant, gives an idea of the effectiveness of such 
method of presentation: "God is richly blessing us 
here [Washington, D. C.]. Last Sunday over one 
hundred and twenty young people in two churches 
came forward and dedicated their services to the Lord. 
We have had responses wherever we have had an op- 
portunity to give the call for life service. Last Fri- 
day night in Annapolis, Maryland, fifty-nine of the 
younger life of the church came forward. One man 
holding a Ph.D. degree has allowed me to send his 
name to the candidate department. A member of the 
House of Representatives also came forward on the 
call." 

Perhaps it might be well to cite another example 
showing that Educational Dramatics does move men to 
action. Students of a certain State Normal School a 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 119 

few years ago were sent to a Hungarian quarter of a 
city to gather material for a Hungarian festival. The 
assignment at first was not at all alluring, for that 
particular part of the city was then famed for a recent 
murder and all of the inhabitants were regarded with 
suspicion. Mary Master Needham, in Folk Festivals, 1 
records the results of the research : 

"And so it was that four weeks from the day when 
Oak Street in the Hungarian quarter had first been the 
scene of such an upheaval of traditions, there was a 
gathering in the grove of the school to see a 'festival.' 
It was an Indian summer day, as if nature too had 
caught something of the spirit of the festival. In the 
audience were a number of dark-skinned, eager-faced, 
vital creatures in holiday attire. 'They are the Hun- 
garians who taught the class,' it was whispered; and 
more than once the spectators turned from the games 
and folk tales acted out on the green to these eager, 
responsive people, brought to this grove for the first 
time, and bound to the class by a common tie of festal 
spirit." 

In a similar way an approach was made to other 
nationalities, and the information gained, supplemented 
with written material, furnished a background for many 
festivals which utilized the Greek, French, Italian, and 
Swedish peoples. The value of these community fes- 
tivals is summed up thus : "The change of front, the 
widened horizon that they gained in seeking the mate- 
rial from the people themselves, was inestimable. They 
no longer set these people aside, or ignored them, but 
through an attempt to place them in their historical 
backgrounds they became more powerful themselves 

J B. W. Huebsch, Inc., publisher. 



120 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

and understood themselves better, and, more than all, 
got themselves understood the better — a task that 
sometimes takes all of life and living to accomplish." 
Who can deny the character-building values of such 
experiences? The dramatic method involves the 
bringing into action of those resources of which char- 
acter is made. Knowledge is put to use; sympathies 
carried over into conduct. It is through such living 
experiences that character is achieved. 

Summary. — Thus we see how knowledge, culture, 
and other phases of the spiritual heritage of the race 
can be made a part of individual life by dramatization. 
Using this method, we may train the individual in the 
gentle art of getting on well with his neighbors. We 
can make his social sympathies what we will. Of 
course, not all educational procedure can make use of 
this method. A man doing research work in the field of 
natural science should hardly be expected to be en- 
thusiastic over such a means of gaining this kind of 
knowledge. 

Similar limits occur even in the elementary grades 
with certain subjects. Therefore the dramatic en- 
thusiast should not let her better judgment become 
subverted in her desire to demonstrate an educational 
theory. She must consider that there are impulses 
other than those which prompt dramatic expression and 
at times the desire for their satisfaction is strong 
enough to demand their recognition. Drama should 
be used only where it will be the most suitable and effec- 
tive method of teaching. That can be determined 
largely by the nature of the subjectmatter, the aims to 
be achieved, the interests and needs of the pupils, and 
the availability of capable leaders. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 121 

Books for Reference 

Harriet Finlay-Johnson, The Dramatic Method of 
Teaching. 

H. Caldwell Cook, The Play Way. 

Winifred Sackville Stoner, Manual of Natural Educa- 
tion. 

Percival Chubb and Associates, Festivals and Plays. 

Norman E. Richardson, editor, The Dramatic Instinct 
in Children, Dramatics in the Home, Story-Telling 
in the Home. 



122 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

CHAPTER VIII 

HELPS IN PRODUCING 

This chapter is written particularly for those who 
work with children, young people, and adults and 
whose interests demand a more finished performance 
than is usually sought in story dramatization and non- 
text productions. Much of the material is familiar to 
those who have served as play or pageant directors. It 
will, however, prove suggestive to amateurs, and may 
even give some new ideas to experienced producers. 

The Personnel 

The cast or acting personnel is the first consideration 
in Educational Dramatics. Other interests, such as 
artistic finish, entertainment value and "audience con- 
cern, " are secondary. 

How chosen. — Method of selecting the cast is de- 
termined by the type of production and its purpose. 
Classroom dramatic activities and large community 
pageants are governed by different principles. In the 
classroom it is the development of the player that is the 
end in view, and so children, protected from the em- 
barrassment of a mass of onlookers, may be cast for 
parts for which they are dramatically unsuited, if such 
parts are a stimulus in desired growth. In large com- 
munity productions, however, the purpose is to give 
aesthetic expression to popular sentiment — or to crys- 
tallize public opinion. This may require participants 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 123 

of ability for the leading roles. Any one of several 
ways may be used in determining what persons should 
be assigned to the different parts. 

A large production requires a committee which, un- 
der the supervision of the director, enlists the person- 
nel. Often it is found advisable to allow one of the 
sponsoring organizations to assume entire responsi- 
bility for enlisting the minor characters of an episode. 
From a local school of expression or a gymnasium 
class may be secured members who have been trained 
in rhythmic and physical flexibilities. These persons 
may be prepared under their own instructors for their 
respective roles. From such instructors leaders may be 
found who, under the direction of the stage manager, 
will take charge of interludes involving special group- 
ing and rhythmic movement. Especially does outdoor 
pageantry, which depends little upon dialogue, call for 
such experts in group and individual expressive move- 
ment and action. 

For smaller and less exacting productions, personnel 
may be selected by a round-robin reading. Thus the 
interest and temperament of the players may be dis- 
closed. A study of the reaction of individuals to the 
reading, as manifested in animated faces and respon- 
sive voices, will give many suggestions for the casting 
of parts. 

Histrionic ability is not the only consideration. For 
instance, the part of the Christus would never be given 
to any person in the Oberammergau Passion Play who 
did not live the part in daily life. So it will be in com- 
munities where the cast is well known. The life and 
temperament of the players should approximate that 
of the individuals they personify. Otherwise some of 



124 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

the playing, because of past association in the minds 
of the audience, may seem ludicrous. 

Play analysis. — An appreciation for and an under- 
standing of any intended drama is essential to success- 
ful production. In story playing and all other forms 
of Educational Dramatics this end is accomplished by 
play analysis. The director, guided always by the 
interest and maturity of the players, suggests, in- 
spires, and regulates an investigation of the text. 
Adults enter more deeply into such analysis than chil- 
dren, but the same principle governs. 

Careful play analysis obviates stage embarrassment 
and induces spontaneity and naturalness of action. 
Unnaturalness usually results from lack of knowledge. 
If the individual is led into an understanding of the 
play motif and into a sympathy with his role, he is sel- 
dom self-conscious. Such questions as, "What shall 
I do with my hands?" "How shall I walk?" and "Shall 
I speak loudly at first?" have all been settled. 

Play analysis tells the why of action, explains certain 
types of entrances and exits, group movement, and all 
stage business that directly concerns the individual 
player. Through it he becomes a thinking part of a 
production, animated and eager, rather than a dull cog 
in the stage machinery. He does a certain thing, not 
because he is told to do it, but because he feels that 
such action is right. He also has learned that he has 
certain obligations to other players such as "playing 
up to them," and avoiding movement, noise, or other 
distractions which divert attention from the center of 
interest. 

The wise director does not usurp the rights of 
players in matters of interpretation. Always he en- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 125 

courages initiative — makes even the minor characters 
feel they are living and vital parts of the production, 
not mere puppets to be moved at will. While the inter- 
est of the story must be clear to all, the detail of work- 
ing it out, however, is confined to one individual. One 
master mind must determine group movement, relation, 
general action, and place and manner of group en- 
trances and exits. The pageant director must be 
master alike of mass directing and individual develop- 
ment. He gains his ends by suggestion, however, 
rather than by coercion. The type of a leader who 
forces his own ideas of interpretation upon players and 
drives them unmercifully to their task (for under such 
conditions playing becomes a task) has no place in the 
field of Educational Dramatics. 

Movement and grouping. — Grouping, especially in 
pageantry, is an important means to the end, which is 
effect. This is an art in itself — one obedient to the 
laws of pictorial composition, involving light and 
shadow, mass and line, the relative position of in- 
dividuals, and related values of background, fore- 
ground, and center of interest. There is also aesthetic 
significance in grouping demanding symmetry and bal- 
ance, not noticeable perhaps in detail, but which influ- 
ences the general picture value. 

The play director and the painter of canvas deal 
with similar problems. Both, in their undertakings, 
recognize the fundamental laws of pictorial composi- 
tion. The task of the director in some respects is 
the more complicated. To give new sense impressions, 
create new interests, and stimulate emotions, he must 
constantly redistribute his characters. His stage pic- 
tures are not fixed, but continually changing. On the 



126 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

other hand, he has an advantage. He may employ all 
the aids known to psychology in focusing attention — 
color, movement, sound, line, and isolation. 

"Only one thing at a time happens on the stage." 
Hence all action should aim to bring out the dramatic 
situation as conceived by the players and director. 
Any action which does not add to the general effect 
is certain to be a distraction which will dissipate inter- 
est. Perhaps no truth is more often overlooked. 
Minor characters, unconscious of the fact they are in- 
juring the effectiveness of a play, often attract the at- 
tention of the audience to themselves by peculiar antics 
and movements. Even on the professional stage un- 
principled individuals may maliciously take advantage 
of the opportunity their parts give them, and in a spirit 
of spite muddle situations to the embarrassment of 
leading players. Such a simple thing as the flash of a 
gold pencil moved back and forth may be sufficient to 
divert the attention of an audience from the center of 
interest. 

Securing dominance. — We may well give some 
consideration to means by which leading players may 
be made noticeable, and by which "big situations" may 
be accentuated. In display advertising, type is care- 
fully selected, and judiciously placed so that it will 
"speak." The same general principle is applied in the 
stage art. Players are not scattered promiscuously 
over the stage or huddled together, but placed in cer- 
tain positions that they may convey their message. 
The stage background should be such that the charac- 
ters will stand out. The stage settings take the place 
of the white space in advertising. Bright colors may 
by their obtrusiveness preclude character dominance. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 127 

Frequently dominance may be secured by isolation 
of players. An individual when he speaks usually re- 
moves himself from the group. Both the movement 
and position taken help to make him a center of inter- 
est. Out-of-doors pageantry avails itself of colored 
costumes and bright properties to focus attention to 
leading players. Indoor presentation uses colored 
lights and "spots." 

Perhaps no aid is employed more effectively in pag- 
eantry than mass and line. Consider what dominance 
is secured by placing a player in a prominent position 
and then focusing the attention of the audience and 
players upon him. A shift of a few players may make 
an individual the center of interest. Another shift, 
and he becomes absorbed into the group. 

Painting on classic vases, color prints, and certain 
works of the old masters will offer valuable suggestions 
in regard to effective grouping. Examination of group- 
ings given in books on pageant and play productions 
will also be helpful. Davol's Handbook of American 
Pageantry is unusually interesting to those directing 
outdoor festivals and pageants, since Mr. Davol in his 
capacity of investigator and writer has been able to 
picture many of the most noteworthy pageants given 
in America. For the reproduction of Bible scenes, 
especially those of the Nativity, Bethlehem Tableaux, 
by John K. C. Chesshire, The Gospels in Art, edited 
by W. Shaw Sparrow, and the Life of Christ as Rep- 
resented in Art, by Dean Farrar, will render valuable 
assistance. 

Aids in Creating Dramatic Illusion 
Dramatic illusion makes an acted experience assume 



128 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

reality. Such illusion may be assisted by judicious use 
of costumes, properties, stage settings, color, and 
music. 

Costumes. — Woman's eternal question, "What shall 
I wear?" is put also by Educational Dramatics. What 
woman solves the problem to her own satisfaction? 
More difficult still is the problem of costuming a pro- 
duction. Not one but many individuals must be con- 
sidered, and the mood, time, and type of the drama. 
A few general suggestions may prove helpful. 

Never, except for uniforms and for costumes where 
historical accuracy and elegance demand exactness of 
detail, deal with professional costumers. Their clothes 
are usually tawdry, dirty, expensive, and merit no 
respect from the players. Costuming is part of the 
activity of an educational production. The less elab- 
orate garments can readily be made in the community. 
They will be clean and will cost little more than those 
rented and may be of property value for future pro- 
ductions. 

In almost every city and village will be found talent 
for costume designing. Old photographs, illustrated 
histories, Perry prints, and books on costuming found 
in public libraries will stimulate ideas. After the cos- 
tumes have been designed and the material purchased 
and cut out, the task, rather the pleasure, of making, 
may be given to the participants or to a sewing class. 
A neighborhood sewing bee may be the order of the 
day. Allowing the participants to design their own 
costumes undirected may result in ludicrous creations. 
Often the desire to fashion after one's own preference 
may overshadow the suggested harmonies of a produc- 
tion. Only with small groups where there can be a 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 129 

careful supervision, is it ever wise to give the entire 
initiative to the players. 

Sometimes the town proves a veritable storehouse. 
Suitable and beautiful costumes come forth from gen- 
erous attics. Heirlooms graciously appear — such 
articles as grandmother's wedding dress, mother's old 
party gown, a beautiful Japanese garment, lengths of 
drapery, scarfing, fans, lace, feathers, and what not. 
In certain cities are quaint and attractive folk cos- 
tumes of the foreign born, to draw from. It is really 
surprising what can be unearthed by systematic effort. 
Such costumes are more significant than those secured 
otherwise. The necessary tuck here, the disguise of 
an age spot there, is a simple matter to be trusted per- 
haps to the skill of the player. 

Each episode of the pageant and every character of 
a drama should be provided for as a part of the whole. 
Elaborate or striking costumes for ill-chosen episodes 
or persons may spoil the climax or finale by magnifying 
minor characters or incidents. There should be a rea- 
son for every design and every color. Otherwise there 
can be but discord which detracts from the central pur- 
pose of the production. 

Bear in mind the value of substitute material in 
making costumes. Distance, light, and effect of con- 
trast may lend significance to inexpensive cheese cloth, 
canton flannel, burlap, and netting, and serve every 
need of groups and minor characters. Many effects 
can be gained by painting and dyeing. Ingenuity, not 
goods alone, is the stuff of which often the most effec- 
tive costumes are made. 

Clarice Vallette McCauley thus describes the cos- 
tumes designed for a dramatic festival by athletic 



130 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

classes of Teachers College, Columbia University. 
The description reveals the possibilities of the simplest 
material : "One class, representing Amazons, made their 
special costumes of newspapers. The girls wore their 
regular gymnasium clothes — bloomers with black 
stockings and black sneakers. Skirts were made with 
strips cut crosswise from newspapers — the strips being 
graduated in length and sewed to a broad band of 
newspaper at the waist and held up by a three inch 
strip over the shoulders. The hats were abbreviated 
dunce caps — cones with a bunch of crepe paper gath- 
ered together in chrysanthemum effect in front. 

"Another class reproduced a Chinese Dragon Fes- 
tival. The girls went to no expense for personal cos- 
tumes other than for green dye with which to color 
their stockings. A long rectangular piece of cambric 
or muslin was dyed to represent the body of a dragon. 
The head, of course, was made and painted by hand. 
This body covering was placed over the girls, who, in 
a bent position, walked along — hands on the waists of 
those in front. The first girl in the line manipulated 
the head. All that could be seen was the horrible and 
grotesque body and the moving green legs." 

Properties. — Necessary properties for most plays 
and pageants can be secured with little or no difficulty. 
Even dramas which demand historical accuracy seldom 
present unsurmountable problems. Spinning wheels, 
old-fashioned andirons, firearms, and like articles are 
to be found in most communities. Properties which 
cannot be secured can usually be substituted. True 
such substitutes call forth creative ability of players 
and property men alike, but that is one of the purposes 
of educational productions. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 131 

From cardboard it is possible to construct crowns, 
stars, and crescents. Stiff buckram is invaluable. It 
can be bent into desired shapes for masks, headdress, 
and armor. Plaster-board painted or covered may- 
assist to fashion any number of articles such as palan- 
quins, high-backed chairs, and fireplaces. Nail kegs 
fastened together and wrapped with painted burlap 
very well take the place of logs. If a woodland altar 
to Pan or a rocky wayside shrine is desired, gray wall 
paper crumpled over a suitable frame gives the appear- 
ance of rocks and carries out the desired illusion. Al- 
most anything is possible through substitution — great 
vases, old parchments, stone pillars, Oriental fans, hel- 
mets, and shields. 

Frequently small hand properties may be used for 
any number of different purposes. Robbers have held 
up stores, and prisoners have escaped by the employ- 
ment of such faked firearms as silver match boxes and 
table knives. Such properties which take the appear- 
ance of objects in real life surely can serve in enacted 
experiences. Exactness of detail is not essential. 
Clever substitution knows no limits. For instance, 
Louise Burleigh cites one case where a bright toy whis- 
tle was used off stage "to represent everything from 
the sound of a tug boat to the call of a policeman," 
and on the stage to take the place of a revolver, valu- 
able family silver, a toy in the nursery, and part of a 
soldier's equipment. 

Stage-setting. — Educational Dramatics conforms to 
the principles of the new stagecraft. It avoids that 
naturalism which seeks to duplicate in detail. Simple 
backgrounds are used and few properties and cos- 
tumes. Atmosphere is created and the mood of the 



1 32 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

production is furthered by suggestion rather than by 
exactness of reproduction. 

The creation of the proper background — one that 
will not be obtrusive and yet one which will convey the 
desired mood and atmosphere — calls for individual 
study. General rules will not apply to the designing 
of all exteriors and interiors. The place of production 
also complicates the task of the producer. Who would 
think of employing like presentation methods for in- 
door and outdoor performances ? 

Indoor performances are served variously by cur- 
tains and screens. These with a few properties may 
suggest a harmonious background for the unfolding of 
a play or narrative. Curtains are especially adaptable 
for the presentation of the Greek Classics, out-of-door 
performances which do not call for an intimate treat- 
ment, Shakespearian plays, and religious dramas which 
demand imagery rather than the portrayal of harsh 
fact. For indoor house sets small screens seven or 
eight feet in height, are useful. They may be made of 
plaster-board which has been given a neutral color, or 
where colored lights cannot be used, screen frames 
over which different colored cloths or paper may be 
draped. 

Often it is possible with a few touches to adapt pro- 
ductions to an existing background. A better setting 
could not be devised for the presentation of certain 
religious themes than a church auditorium. The at- 
mosphere which it is ordinarily necessary to create is 
already there. For classic plays, especially the Greek, 
the entrance to a College building with its large pillars, 
may, with a few screens, be quite suitable. Outdoor 
pageantry avails itself of forests, hillsides, hedges, and 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 133 

stretches of field. Landing parties in boats may ap- 
pear around a natural bend in the river and clumps of 
trees may serve as screens for participants. Yet pag- 
eantry suffers limitation from the fixity of natural 
light and setting. Unity of place and scene are im- 
posed, unless the audience itself be transferred from 
view to view as the production may require. These 
limitations are sometimes ignored, however. Night 
scenes are played in sunlight, and interiors are sug- 
gested by a few furnishings "brought on" to serve. 

Color. — There is a distinct purpose in coloring. It 
is not alone used to please the aesthetic taste of the audi- 
ence, but it is also employed as a means of giving tone 
or mood to the production. Different colors have dis- 
tinct emotional effects on an audience. For instance, 
black alone or when blended with certain colors may 
give an impression of apprehension or horror. White 
suggests purity and cleanliness. Gray and the quiet 
colors are not intrusive and give one an impression of 
calm and peacefulness. On the other hand, bright 
colors when skillfully blended, suggest life and activity. 

For indoor presentation it is well to choose a neutral 
shade for curtain or screen background. It will then 
take any desired color under artificial lighting and per- 
mit a variety of effects in any one scene or episode. 
Where lighting facilities are limited such pleasing 
results may be obtained with an automobile "spot 
light" shining through sheets of colored glass. 

For outdoor performances the costumes serve to em- 
phasize atmosphere and tone. Many effects, which on 
the indoor stage could be conveyed by dialogue, must, 
outdoors, rely upon color and harmonious grouping. 
For instance, leaders of groups are indicated by 



134 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

brighter colors than other personages. Their actions 
will then be conspicuous. Red is a good color for fo- 
cusing attention, but it must be used sparingly, for it 
has a tendency to kill the influence of other less com- 
pelling hues. 

Experiment must ascertain color harmonies resulting 
from movement of different groups. Beegle and Craw- 
ford, in Community Drama and Pageantry, make the 
suggestion that a miniature stage of cardboard, propor- 
tionate in size to the one that will be used, be con- 
structed and that the movements of the groups be rep- 
resented by the shifting of colored objects. Others 
advise the use of spools of silk corresponding to the 
shades of group costumes, and for many of the larger 
productions dummy figures with accurately designed 
costumes have been employed and shifted backward 
and forward to ascertain the effect of every movement. 

For the inexperienced it would be well to select neu- 
tral shades as far as possible in the color scheme. This 
will permit of a wider number of safe color com- 
binations. When historical accuracy demands particu- 
lar colors, then it is best to make the most of the situa- 
tion and through experimentation determine the group- 
ings which can be made without discord. 

Music. — Music often assumes more than an inci- 
dental part in drama. It has an important function 
which cannot be relegated to other stage arts. It is a 
unifier which may do away with the footlights and 
make players and audience one through the common 
medium of song. It often completes and joins differ- 
ent scenes and episodes into an organic whole. 
Through association it creates local atmosphere of time 
and place. It touches the emotions, suggests dramatic 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 135 

moods, and intensifies impressions. When spoken 
words fail, it goes beyond the limits of verbal expres- 
sion and conveys the unuttered thoughts of the play- 
wright. 

As costumes, properties and accessories prepare a 
stage for a dramatic presentation, so does music ar- 
range the inner stage of emotions. We are prepared 
to greet a change of personnel and to view scenes quite 
transformed when the musical prelude changes from 
the stately church hymn to a rollicking boisterous song. 
Weird foreign chants, stirring national anthems, 
dreamy serenades, Scottish pibrochs and quaint and at- 
tractive folk songs likewise create each its own respec- 
tive background. Whatever the desired mood, and 
whatever the atmosphere sought, both can be created 
through skillful use of music. 

Appropriate music influences the players, induces 
spontaneity of action, and also draws players and audi- 
ence together into an intimate and vital common expe- 
rience. The value of music was vividly impressed upon 
the mind of the writer by the presentation of a certain 
missionary pageant. A preaching service as conducted 
in India was dramatized. A few young people who 
took the leading parts and a chorus choir of sixty 
voices were taught, "Raja Yisu Aya," the great song 
of the India Mass Movement. This was the introduc- 
tion given : 

"We are in an Indian village. We have no church 
and so must worship out of doors. We are gathered 
in a street that we may hear the message of Him who 
has promised to give us soul peace. You are not on- 
lookers. For the time you are native Indians. Those 
of you well up to the front are village Christians. 



136 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

Those of you a little farther back, sitting cross-legged 
on the ground, are inquirers. You are very much inter- 
ested and will clap your hands and sing the songs with 
the others. Some of you a little farther back are sit- 
ting on fences, and some of you way up there (point- 
ing to the gallery) on the housetops are heathen, 
curious to hear the story of the missionary sahib." 

It is needless to say "Raja Yisu Aya" gave color to 
the dramatization, and the other familiar hymns of the 
church, woven into the production, made the audience 
feel an intimate and vital part of the performance. 
Song led all into a new experience, permitted a sens- 
ing of the heart-hunger of a people for truth, and visu- 
alized the world program of the conquering Christ. 

Whenever possible it is well to compose new music. 
Familiar compositions because of acquired associations 
may give wrong impressions. Also the work of a local 
composer is more likely to be in keeping with the motif 
than any music which may be selected. Even though 
it may not measure up to the standard of the master- 
pieces, it is an expression of community life, and Edu- 
cational Dramatics aims to encourage all such creative 
effort. 

Makeshifts 

It is well to bear in mind that costumes, properties, 
scenery, music, and lights are employed primarily to 
create dramatic illusion, and that they exist not for 
themselves but for the sake of the production. Requi- 
sites ? Yes, we may call them that, for in certain types 
of productions all may seem necessary, but they are 
not always essential. At times the desired effects can 
be gained without them. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 137 

In providing entertainment for the soldiers in 
France adults were often compelled to make believe in 
the same way that children do in their play life. In 
one production witnessed by the writer himself, a 
bench served as a piano. Another bench — which, by 
the way, tipped up during the performance — was used 
as a banquet table. Army uniforms were make-believe 
dress suits. An introduction something like this was 
given : "We are now in a luxuriously furnished house. 
This bench is a grand piano; this small bench is a 
Louis XIV chair. We are all society people in even- 
ing dress, as you see. When we go beyond this place 
we are supposed to be off the stage." Believe me, in 
this production dramatic illusion suffered no loss. An 
intjmacy between players and audience was established 
at the outset. The spectators quickly became as one 
with the players and the production was enjoyed by 
the majority of the men better than could have been 
one staged with all the artistic helps known to the 
"professional." 

Clarice Vallette McCauley gives an interesting ex- 
ample of how, through suggestion, she was able to use 
the imagination of a soldier audience, allowing it to 
furnish the proper mental background. "Five chairs 
only were on the stage. The leading character placed 
one chair with its back toward him, a second chair diag- 
onally away from it the width of an ordinary fire- 
place. Then indicating with his hands to the audience 
he said, 'This is a fireplace — my fireplace. Behold me 
at its hearth.' He then seated himself, unfolded his 
newspaper and began to read. His wife came in and 
in a similar way used chairs for her little set." 

Improper accessories. — Such frankness on the part 



138 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

of the players is preferable to trying to mislead the 
audience by the use of improper accessories. A com- 
bination of white collar protruding above a Hindu 
dress, or mutton-chop whiskers on an American In- 
dian, as described by Davol in his Handbook on Amer- 
ican Pageantry, by their incongruity detract much 
more from illusion than would the frank absence of 
special costumes. Productions demanding national or 
historical accuracy are better not costumed at all than 
costumed incorrectly. 

Books for Reference 

Beegle-Crawford, Community Drama and Pageantry. 

Barrett H. Clark, How to Produce Amateur Plays. 

Constance D'Arcy Mackay, How to Produce Chil- 
dren's Plays. 

Hilliard-McCormick-Ogleby, Amateur and Educa- 
tional Dramatics. 

Elizabeth Erwin Miller, The Dramatization of Bible 
Stories. 

Constance D'Arcy Mackay, Costumes and Scenery for 
Amateurs. 

Arthur Edwin Krows, Play Production in America. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 139 



CHAPTER IX 

ORGANIZATION FOR A LARGE COMMUNITY 
PAGEANT 

This chapter outlines a general plan of organization 
often used by those directing community dramas. 
When adapted to local needs and to the type of pro- 
duction chosen it may prove helpful. It is in no sense, 
however, a complete working chart. Those desiring 
detailed plans of organization should consult the refer- 
ence books listed at the close of this chapter. 

Preliminary Plans 

Community pageants cannot be "worked up" over- 
night. Productions demanding the assistance of hun- 
dreds of participants and an initial outlay of thousands 
of dollars, require several months or a whole year for 
preparation, that the performance may be a credit to 
the community. Such a worthy and artistic presenta- 
tion is then the culmination of an experience of edu- 
cational significance to the many workers, and vindi- 
cates its community value. 

Sponsoring organizations. — First, it is essential that 
one or more representative organizations sponsor the 
dramatic undertaking. That will assure it sound finan- 
cial backing and moral support. By working through 
certain key men a hearing can usually be gained be- 
fore Ministerial Associations, Chambers of Commerce, 
Rotary Clubs, Women's Federations, Choral Societies, 
and Art Groups. For propaganda purposes it is often 



140 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

advisable to secure "out-of-town" speakers. First- 
hand reports from other cities in regard to the adver- 
tising values of worth-while productions will appeal 
to business men, as will statements in regard to the 
resulting unifications of popular sentiment and the in- 
terest developed in city problems. Women's organiza- 
tions will be interested in the social aspects of pagean- 
try; the church in the religious and moral values 
accruing from presentation ; and art groups in drama- 
tic technique. 

Publicity. — By all means the support of local papers 
should be solicited. They can give publicity to speakers 
addressing different groups and can familiarize the 
community as a whole with the possibilities of dramatic 
presentation. Usually they are glad to accept apt, well- 
written articles. 

The executive committee. — After an interest has 
been stimulated in the proposed production and coop- 
eration of representative organizations has been as- 
sured an executive committee should be created to 
assume general and advisory responsibility for the 
pageant. This committee may be composed of one 
delegated committeeman from each affiliated organiza- 
tion. It should be authorized to handle preliminary 
production matters and to secure a director to whom 
will be assigned responsibility for all details of manage- 
ment, organization, and control. It should also make 
arrangements for underwriting the necessary expense 
and assist the director in the selection of proper com- 
mitteemen. 

Production Personnel 

One capable person can direct a small play or pageant 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 141 

and look after all details. It is always well, however, 
in a large production, to divide the responsibility. This 
simplifies the work of the director and gains the inter- 
est of the participants. A large community pageant 
demands an efficient organization, for often a hundred 
or more assistants are used behind the scenes, alone. 
Slipshod methods will not get results here where time- 
liness and accuracy are requisites of successful pro- 
duction. A plan of organization is essential. There 
must be the directing hand of an authority capable of 
rendering decisions and of assigning specific tasks to 
responsible lieutenants and heads of committees. 
Minor directors in turn must assume responsibility. 

The pageant director. — The director is to the pag- 
eant as is the general to the army. While himself ac- 
countable to those who have given him authority, he is 
nevertheless responsible for the entire organization and 
control. He is the supervisor, the court of final ap- 
peal, the far-seeing leader. As commander-in-chief he 
must be the type of man who will easily win the sup- 
port and confidence of his associates, for much depends 
upon harmonious relationships. A successful produc- 
tion will be impossible otherwise. He must know not 
only the technique and aesthetic side of producing but 
also the practical. He is both dramatic coach and pro- 
moter. 

He outlines the plan of organization, appoints com- 
mittees and subcommittees, delegates certain tasks to 
particular groups, and then sees that the work assigned 
is properly carried out. He is the master mind, the 
one who directs, and, like a great musician, he must 
be capable of detecting the slightest discord whether 
in script, stage-setting, or among the participants. 



142 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

The business manager. — The business manager 
appointed by the executive committee attends to the 
collection and expenditure of money, publicity, selec- 
tion and preparation of the place for the performance, 
methods of selling the tickets, and all the business in the 
"front of the house." Specific tasks are delegated to 
trained individuals. A leading banker may act as 
treasurer. He is accustomed to keeping accounts in a 
systematic, businesslike manner and has no conscien- 
tious scruples about refusing bills which are not ap- 
proved by the director. He also serves as a check on 
the committees, that they may not exceed their separate 
budgets. A house or ground committee makes suitable 
arrangements for the place of production, building the 
stage, arranging the seating, etc., and also is responsi- 
ble for ushers, ticket-sellers, and marshals. Every city 
has men who are promoters — salesmen, newspaper re- 
porters, and advertisement writers. These men under 
the supervision of the director can "sell the pageant to 
the community." Enlisting the sympathy of the people 
is indeed a salesmanship proposition and will need 
newspaper help, bulletins, posters, and personal adver- 
tising. 

The stage manager. — The stage manager ap- 
pointed by the director is an assistant with specific 
tasks. The nature of these is determined by the size 
and type of the performance. He is the stage engi- 
neer, the one who controls the mechanics of the pro- 
duction. He is responsible, through his helpers, for 
such details as the raising and lowering of the curtains, 
shifting of scenes and properties, lighting effects, en- 
trance and exits of participants, order and discipline 
behind the scenes at rehearsal and during the perform- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 143 

ances. He must be familiar with all stage business, 
script, cues, and action, and see that the production 
goes off smoothly. 

Always he works in close harmony with the director. 
During the rehearsals he may take full charge in the 
absence of the director. He must be firm and prac- 
tical, and yet approachable — the type of a man to 
smooth out disturbances and relieve embarrassment 
through his geniality and force of character. 

Personnel committee. — It is no difficult task to 
get together a sufficient cast for a production which 
has been properly advertised and which meets with the 
approval of the community. Local advisers, however, 
familiar with local talent, should assist the director to 
select and interest those who will be most suitable for 
the different parts. For the minor roles an appeal can 
be made to the sponsoring organizations. 

When the local advisory group has summoned avail- 
able players these should be chosen by the director for 
their parts. Final decision is always vested in the 
director. In passing let me warn against promises or 
hopes held out by those in less authority. 

The costume manager. — The costume manager, un- 
der supervision of the director, plans the costumes, 
assists in their making, and through his assistants has 
charge of the make up and dressing rooms. Strict 
systematizing is imperative in handling and storage of 
costumes. All costume belongings of each character 
should be bundled and the bundle tagged. The tag 
should be clearly numbered and marked with the name 
of the character, and of the player. (The Educational 
Players of New York City store each costume and all 
accessories in specially made envelope bags fitted with 



i 4 4 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

inner pockets for shoes, belts, gloves, etc.) Players 
are assigned numbers and each player is made responsi- 
ble for the completeness of his bundle. Those who 
have helped the costume department during rehearsals 
should attend the dressing rooms during the perform- 
ance. The dressing rooms should be absolutely closed 
to outsiders, friends, relatives, and visitors. 

The property manager. — The property manager 
with his assistants, following a list from the script, 
makes, hires, or borrows locally the smaller articles 
required in the sets and for the use of the players — 
flags, curtains, chairs, rugs, pistols, wands, etc. After 
the properties have been provided it is the duty of the 
property manager to see that they are properly dis- 
tributed for use, collected after performances, and 
arranged in an orderly manner so that there will be 
no confusion in distribution at the next performance. 

Manager of lights. — Many "effects" require col- 
ored lights and elaborate shadings. For these expert 
artistic and technical efficiency is required. The lights 
department must be approved by the local fire authori- 
ties. It may be necessary on the part of an amateur 
or even a professional to experiment time and time 
again before the proper color impression is made. Af- 
ter such has been done the cues for dimming and chang- 
ing lights should be studied so that there may be no 
hesitancy or embarrassment to the participants caused 
by bungling or bad management. It is imperative to 
rehearse lights sufficiently before the first performance. 
Sometimes a special dress rehearsal in preparation for 
the general dress rehearsal is required. 

Musical director. — Music usually takes an important 
place in pageantry. A chorus of a thousand or more 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 145 

voices and a large symphony orchestra may be re- 
quired. The need of a musical director is evident. 
He should be capable of enlisting the proper personnel. 
He should also be able to compose music as may be re- 
quired, transpose, and adapt. He, of course, works in 
accord with the general director, and is under his 
authority. 

Books for Reference 

Beegle-Crawford, Community Drama and Pageantry. 

Constance D'Arcy Mackay, Patriotic Drama in Your 
Town. 

Clarice Vallette McCauley, How to Produce The 
Seeker. 

Barrett H. Clark, How to Produce Amateur Plays. 

Emma Sheridan Fry, Educational Dramatics. 

Arthur Edwin Krows, Play Production in America. 

Hilliard-McCormick-Ogleby, Amateur and Educa- 
tional Dramatics. 

Bartholomew and Lawrence, Music for Everybody. 



146 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

CHAPTER X 

TYPES OF DRAMATIC PRODUCTIONS 

Types of dramatic expression are naturally classi- 
fied in two general groups. In one group individuals 
assume the dramatic roles. In the other the roles are 
delegated to an inanimate stage personnel. Musical 
drama, exclusively religious productions, and "screen" 
plays deserve special consideration and are here classi- 
fied as special types. 

Individuals as Players 

Individuals serve in one capacity or another as 
players in nearly all dramatic types other than puppet 
plays and similar productions. 

Tableaux. — An interesting, and if properly pre- 
sented, educationally significant form of dramatization 
is the tableau. The French words tableaux vivant — 
"living pictures" — express very well the idea. The 
tableau has artistic possibilities, and makes a strong 
appeal to the eye and to the aesthetic nature. At the 
same time participants may benefit in such presentation 
of fact and interpretation of character if correct edu- 
cational methods are used. 

"Picture posing" is one of the simplest forms this 
type of expression may take. By posing and gesture 
an attempt is made to visualize with a "stage picture" 
some work of art. Nothing makes children look at a 
picture more intently than to know that they, taking 
the part of the figures, are to attempt a living repre- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 147 

sentation of it. Intensive study will be given to group- 
ings, postures, attitudes, costumes, draperies, back- 
grounds, etc., that the pictorial composition of the 
original may be duplicated. Aside from the dramatic 
values of such a study and acting, an understanding is 
given of some of the underlying principles of painting 
and an appreciation of masterpieces of art. Improvis- 
ing costumes, properties, and backgrounds also affords 
opportunity for expression. 

Much attention is given to pictures in the primary 
grades of the day schools, their values as educational 
agencies being fully recognized. The Sunday school 
also has always been especially interested in pictures. 
Fine reproductions of paintings are being furnished 
to illustrate Bible lesson stones. In nearly every Pri- 
mary Department such pictures hang on the walls of 
the classrooms. Certain of them could serve as "pic- 
ture-posing" models. 

In England, notably at Saint Johns, Kennington, 
and at Saint Clements, City Road, London; also, All 
Saints' Church, Wribbenhall, much attention is given 
to the portrayal of religious facts in tableaux. A series 
of connected incidents as described in the Scriptures is 
usually taken as the subject for visualization. Many 
times the works of the old masters are copied — some- 
times so accurately that photographs taken of such 
"stage pictures" closely resemble the original works of 
art. A harmonious spirit is invoked by the reading 
of suitable passages from the Scriptures during the 
display of a picture-pose. Fitting music may com- 
plete the desired effect. By such means it is said that 
the laboring peoples of Kennington and City Road are 
profoundly moved and, indeed, translated from sordid 



148 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

and often miserable surroundings into an apprecia- 
tion of the sublimity of Christ's character and of his 
mission. Thus are Christian facts invitingly presented 
in an age of commercialism, and a spirit of reverence 
summoned which not only lasts throughout the per- 
formance but manifests itself in transformed lives. A 
description of one such series of tableaux presented 
at the country parish of Wribbenhall in England with 
photographs of the attempted reproductions is given by 
John K. C. Chesshire in Bethlehem Tableaux. Those 
interested in such form of presentation will find this 
work suggestive. 

The pantomime. — Pantomime, or dumb show, as it 
once was called in England, appears in so many differ- 
ent forms that to describe it intelligently is difficult. 
It has been anything from dancing of the most sensu- 
ous and vulgar type to the mute impersonation of bib- 
lical scenes, characterized by the highest quality of 
devotional spirit. 

The Roman pantomime was a spectacular form of 
dramatic entertainment in which the actor or actors 
interpreted mythological stories through gesticulation 
and dancing accompanied by chorus singing. Panto- 
mime in England is closely associated with the festi- 
vals of the Christmas season, and such stories as Alad- 
din, Blue Beard, Cinderella, Little Red Riding-Hood, 
and Mother Goose characterizations are acted out. 
These performances are especially intended for the 
amusement and entertainment of the children. 

Pantomime may be adapted to simplest home produc- 
tions. The mother may sing or read the story while 
the children depict it, using their own initiative in in- 
terpretation, costuming, and other details. Stories 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 149 

may thus be acted time and time again, since the child 
at the age when this type of acting is usually carried 
on enjoys the repetition. As in the case of stories, the 
old ones, certain favorites almost known by heart, are 
liked best. 

Miss Elisabeth Edland uses pantomime successfully 
in connection with the classroom work of the church 
school. She has also given public performances, sev- 
eral being presented at Wanamaker's in New York 
city. The children, under direction, have taken charge 
of these productions, designed the costumes, inter- 
preted characters, and at times even written the script. 

Dr. John G. Benson while pastor of the First Meth- 
odist Church in Brazil, Indiana, utilized to good ad- 
vantage the dramatic instinct of high-school pupils. 
He afforded them an opportunity to act out biblical 
scenes in pantomime. This became a source of pleas- 
urable recreation, broke up a dancing craze, and gave 
a knowledge of biblical history which could hardly 
have been attained except through Educational Dra- 
matics. The great leaders of Israel thus imitated be- 
came other than uninteresting characters of a forgot- 
ten age. For these students they lived again as 
realities. 

Charades. — "Let's play charades" is usually the 
suggestion of some person when the anxious query, 
"What shall we do?" is put to a waiting and expectant 
crowd. The charade is an old favorite — often a friend 
in time of need. In all probability it has saved more 
social functions from being dismal failures than any 
other group activity. To play charades the crowd 
is usually divided into two groups. One of these 
groups secretly chooses some -word whose syllables can 



ISO PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

be acted out. The other group or groups endeavor 
to guess what is being represented. 

In playing charades it is customary to state whether 
the word is a common or a proper noun, and the num- 
ber of syllables. Each syllable is acted out separately, 
and then the idea of the whole word is conveyed 
through action. Perhaps those who are unfamiliar 
with charades will understand the methods employed 
better if an illustration is given. The following char- 
ade was acted out by missionaries staying for a time 
at that delightful home for Christian workers just out- 
side New York city — Wallace Lodge. The word 
chosen was "Springer" — acted out (spring-her). 
The announcer stated : We will act out a proper noun 
of two syllables. This is my first (several men 
hopped across the stage). This is my second (a 
woman walked across the platform). This is my 
whole (Dr. John M. Springer, one of the pioneer 
missionaries of Africa, who was present, then ap- 
peared). 

Stunts. — Under this head should be classed the 
great variety of fun provoking dramatizations common 
to college literary societies, clubs, lodges, and young 
people's organizations. One who has attended a Chris- 
tian Endeavor or Epworth League Institute, or taken 
part in a stunt night at a Y. M. C. A. or Y. W. C. A. 
Summer Conference knows full well the value of such 
spontaneous dramatic programs. Recreation may be 
the primary motive, but such amusement unifies all 
through the medium of laughter and cooperative effort. 

The great number and variety of these performances 
prohibit a lengthy discussion of each. First, there is 
the minstrel show. Who has not joyfully and uncon- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 151 

sciously borne evidence on inaccessible parts of his phys- 
iognomy of a production staged several days previous? 
Then there are the mock dramatizations — the trials, 
chapel services, political conventions, oratorical con- 
tests, circuses, sessions of school, orchestra concerts, 
pipe organ selections, art exhibits, children's parties, 
county fairs, baby shows, and wedding ceremonies. 
"Take offs" on individuals furnish no end of amuse- 
ment. Eccentricities can be magnified in such a way 
that even the person mimicked must laugh at the char- 
acterizations. Short comedy sketches, laughable little 
skits, harmless burlesques, and pantomimic interpreta- 
tions likewise may well have place on stunt-night pro- 
grams. 

The masque. — Masques are dramatic productions 
which transcend the actual and by symbolism deal with 
the ideal and fanciful, introducing fairies, spirits of 
nature, and personified qualities such as Happiness, 
Hope, and Love. 

In the simplest form of the masque — that used by 
teachers in kindergarten and in the Beginners' Depart- 
ments of church schools — children imitate the pro- 
cesses of nature. They sleep like flowers during the 
storms of winter, covered and protected by the leaves 
of the forest. They stir themselves when the wind 
whispers that spring is near. At first peeping out, 
later becoming more confident, they raise their heads 
and sway back and forth to the music of the birds in 
June time. Animals likewise are impersonated. As 
birds, the children chirp and hop. They fly as butter- 
flies. Such action is spontaneous, done without even 
suggestion from the teacher. A little child at this 
age sees no incongruity in being a tree in such make- 



152 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

believe masque play. Children readily welcome the 
idea that flowers and forces of nature breathe, sing, 
and sleep just like people. 

The masque serves well the joyous "out-of-door" 
festivals — such as the May Day fete — since any other 
language than poetry and any other stage than that 
beneath the open sky has a tendency to drive away 
the fairies and wood nymphs, jolly little brownies and 
peculiar little gnomes. Festal days without these 
would have no sunshine and flowers and music, and so 
could not be festal days at all. Who could think of 
the spritelike characters in a drama of Spring as 
speaking in other than rhythmic language? Prose 
would seem harsh and discordant. Fairies wear dainty 
slippers, not wooden shoes, and dance best to lyric 
melodies. 

The morality play is a different form of masque. 
Moralities may very well be called dramatic sermon- 
ettes, since they have long been used as polemics 
against heresies, and also to other good advantages by 
the church, both Protestant and Catholic, to inculcate 
Christian virtues. Of the types which have been really 
constructive in their influence Bunyan's Pilgrim's Pro- 
gress is a very good example. It, like many others, 
pictures the struggles of a soul against the personified 
forces of evil. Later moralities, especially those of 
our own day, are more simple than the masterpiece of 
Bunyan, and yet similar in content. 

The play. — At the word "play" many pious people 
hold up their hands in horror and say, "Impossible! 
We couldn't even consider such a thing for our 
church," and yet the same production under the name 
of a pageant raises no question. So is nearly all dra- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 153 

matic expression dismissed. Association with the pro- 
fessional stage has branded any reference to drama or 
dramatics. Now a play is a play whether it is good or 
bad, whether it is produced in the church auditorium 
or on a Broadway stage, and since no one has given the 
educational play any other appellation which distin- 
guishes it, we must of necessity discuss it under that 
name "Play." 

There is nothing in the form of a play which differ- 
entiates it discreditably from other dramatic forms. 
True, it has a plot with its introduction, complications, 
climax, and denouement, but so have many short 
stories, and they are not taboo. Pageant drama, which 
shares many of the characteristics of the play (it dif- 
fers in few other points than in its episodic nature and 
its looseness of structure), also meets the approval of 
church people who are at all interested in the drama. 
Likewise the subjectmatter of the play does not justify 
faulty criticism, for a wide range of choice is open. 
Almost any subject may be treated, and treated in any 
number of ways. Surely, there can be nothing intrin- 
sically wrong with a religious or moral theme or plot. 

The play productions of the professional stage need 
not concern us here. As has been said, they are pro- 
moted for an altogether different purpose than that in 
which we are interested. This also is no place for the 
discussion of the values of Educational Dramatics. 
That has been treated elsewhere. All we need to say 
here is that if dramatic expression may be regulated 
to educational purpose, there can be no objection to the 
use of suitable plays to serve that purpose. 

The play is a powerful means of expressing human 
emotions. It has been perfected in a way different 



154 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

from that of many of the other dramatic types. In 
the hands of those who have evil intentions, or no 
intentions other than those which are commercial, its 
harmful effects can well be imagined. The same quali- 
ties, however, which make it a sharpened instrument 
of evil also make it a weapon of righteousness. Its 
structure is such that it leaves out the unessential and 
by means of artistic devices burns in its theme. An 
impression is made on the inner life of the observer. 
In the language of the stage it "gets him/' In those 
churches which resent, yet need the emotional stimulus 
which was once evoked by the impassioned pulpit, it 
can speak; for it has power to reach the higher emo- 
tions in a way that is not offensive. It offers a means 
of moving indifferent men to action. 

The pageant. — It seems that popular opinion would 
make the pageant the Bolshevist of drama. Nearly 
everything radical which looks as though it might 
overthrow the old order of producing is so named. As 
a result no one seems to be certain what a pageant is. 
People can tell what European pageantry has been, but 
the American sister has acted so strangely that there 
is some doubt about her essential characteristics. Un- 
like some dramatic forms, she did not spring full- 
grown from the brow of man ; and it can hardly be said 
that she has reached the stage which Topsy called 
"growed up." She is one of the youngest of the arts — 
just developing, and as yet, like a young girl, makes 
promise only of the beauty which some day may be hers 
if her development is not retarded. 

In large measure, her favorite moods have already 
been described and appropriate names given to them. 
She imitates all other dramatic arts — the Masque, 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 155 

the Morality, the Dance, the Play, the Musical Dramas, 
the Processional, the Passion Play, and many others. 
Perhaps it will not be tiresome, however, to describe 
her in another way than has already been done. It 
may give some idea of the many forms she may 
assume. 

She has gone out into the green fields and danced 
with the fairies, now lazily drifted along like a fleecy 
cloud to the rhythm of dreamy music; and now, chang- 
ing form and costume, lightly and blithely skipped to 
the melody of rippling waters. Some have labeled 
her in this mood Interpretive Movement. 

At times she has become quite dignified and serious ; 
so Puritanical that one almost feels like calling her 
Prudence instead of Morality, the name she com- 
monly goes by when she assumes that air and mysteri- 
ously ushers in all the virtues and vices that one may 
be able to know them and save his soul from the dam- 
nation of evil. 

As Miss History she sedately opens books and points 
out bright-colored pictures, showing the people of all 
ages — the savages in their native dress, early colonists 
in their homespuns, soldiers in brilliant-hued uniforms, 
and beautiful women dressed in strange and picturesque 
costumes. 

Often as the child of the street she marches to the 
sound of martial music and gayly waves her hands as 
she leads column after column of khaki-clad soldiers; 
or, forgetting her dignity, she may act as drum major 
for a "callithumpian procession" or a circus parade; or, 
remembering past history, she may, ingeniously, use 
all her talents in designing beautifully decorated, 
flowered floats. 



156 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

Every mood that has ever been portrayed through 
drama she attempts. She sings, she takes the role of 
the tragedian, and at times has even gone so far as to 
try "slap-stick comedy." Perhaps you can tell what 
she will be when she gets "growed up." 

Dramatic cast reading. — Emma Sheridan Fry 
while director of the Educational Dramatic League de- 
veloped a type of drama of especial value to the 
church and kindred organizations which are limited by 
platform space and stage equipment. She first 
brought the Winter's Tale into this dramatic cast read- 
ing form of play arrangement. Under her direction 
it was later developed to a practical completeness by 
the Educational players who made readings of it for 
churches, schools, club, and the Board of Education. 
She has since advantageously employed this method 
of presentation with other plays and players. She 
thus describes this new dramatic form, its presenta- 
tion method, and its advantages. 

"The story of the play is told by a single reader in 
text harmonious with the quality and style of the play 
itself. Embedded in this story text is the dialogue. 
The play thus runs in an unbroken stream, part of it 
told by the characters themselves in dramatic speech, 
part of it by the story reader. 

"The advantages of such presentation are obvious. 
It makes possible a condensation without loss of clarity 
or dramatic value. It affords opportunity to comment 
and guide, to set forth the content of the play in sym- 
pathetic light, and to stress values, protect delicacies, 
and guard against misunderstandings. 

"Production is characterized by its simplicity. There 
is no scenery, no character costuming, or other pro- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 157 

duction expense. Rehearsals are reduced to the mini- 
mum. The time is spent on the study of the play and 
characters, not on the detail of production. 

"Distinct play and entertainment values accrue in 
such presentation. Plays requiring heavy production 
effects or massive crowd work may be brought with- 
out loss of entertainment value within the classroom 
or platform limit. Each reader characterizes his part. 
Yet the presentation remains a reading. Detail of act- 
ing, and all the give-and-take of production activity is 
avoided. Readers may readily, at different presenta- 
tions, read different 'parts/ Physical fitness, or even 
sex, is not a limitation as in an acting production. 

"In presentation the cast with manuscripts open are 
seated in a semicircle. They may be robed in flowing 
gowns, all alike in pattern and color. The story reader 
stands at one end of the platform. He begins with 
explanations in dramatic story form of the play, lead- 
ing swiftly to the characters themselves, who in turn 
speak as the story calls upon them. Formalities of 
entrance to the platform, music, and other observances 
may lend dignity to the presentations. Simple cast 
reading, however, with the readers seated at their ac- 
customed desks in the school room, does not fail in its 
dramatic appeal." 

Inanimate Stage Personnel 

Inanimate stage personnel dramatization is common 
to children the world over. Much of it can be classed 
as doll play. It, however, assumes many distinct 
forms, and often, as in the case with the puppets, at- 
tracts the attention of adults. 

Puppet play. — Puppets are not new creations. Peo- 



1 58 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

pie of nearly all countries have employed them in dra- 
matic play. An almost infinite variety of these inani- 
mate stage personnel have been fashioned. Some of 
them have been stiff and stolid, nothing more than 
crude dolls. Others have been cut from the hide of 
animals and used in connection with shadow-play pro- 
ductions. Great skill and dexterity has been mani- 
fested in fashioning and manipulating the jointed 
variety. Some have been ingeniously controlled by 
overhead wires; others, held in the hand, by small jerk 
wires pulled by the thumb and fingers. 

In speaking of puppets, most of us at once think of 
Punch-and-Judy shows. We do our little friends of 
the stage an injustice to classify them all as comedy 
actors. Serious and even religious themes have been 
successfully acted out. Marionettes were originally 
little images of the Virgin. During the seventeenth 
century puppet shows built around the miracle and 
morality plays were very common. At a later date 
such plays as those of Shakespeare and Moliere were 
given public production. Some of the better play- 
wrights regarded such performances so highly that 
they paid no little attention to writing of suitable 
texts. 

One so inclined can see puppet dramatizations of 
the old Sicilian epics in nearly any of our larger cities. 
The Italian people have brought with them to this 
country this remnant of their " festal heritage." Night 
after night the kings, queens, devils, knaves, giants, 
and angels of the puppet world perform. So much do 
they build themselves into the life of the people that 
the demise of a noble character causes real grief. He 
has been a hero in the "land of dreams" and will no 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 159 

longer be seen. It is the loss of an intimate com- 
panion. 

A movement is under way which seeks to revive an 
interest in puppet drama. Such plays as "The Mid- 
summer Night's Dream' ' have been staged and staged 
artistically. Several companies are on the road. Many 
effects are possible in such performances that cannot 
readily be gained in other types of dramatization. 
Diminutive and glimmering fairies with silvery wings 
can float unexpectedly in view and as mysteriously dis- 
appear. And dwarfs, brownies, and other fanciful peo- 
ple of the wonder world can perform character roles 
in keeping with their peculiarities. The new art of the 
theater with its few properties, neutral backgrounds, 
and soft lightings, makes fitting settings for such per- 
formances. 

Bottle dolls and projects. — Forbush, in his Man- 
ual of Stories, has shown how, in the present day, pup- 
pets may be used to good effect to illustrate story- 
telling. Bottles dressed as dolls serve as miniature 
stage personnel. While the story is told they are 
moved about on a table by the story-teller. Mary 
Lowe, who originated the idea of the bottle dolls, and 
whose methods of making them, introducing them, 
moving them, and assisting the children themselves in 
telling the stories are described by Forbush, has done 
valuable experimental work of a practical nature. In 
one village nearly all the children occupied themselves 
making the dolls. 

To some extent already church-school leaders have 
encouraged the project method of teaching which uses 
a similar type of dramatization. Tiny character dolls 
which may be costumed to represent biblical and mis- 



160 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

sionary heroes have been supplied and suggestions have 
been given as to methods by which children may be 
interested in doing the necessary handwork, such as 
fashioning houses, rivers, mountains, trees, etc., to 
use with the dolls in the dramatization of the lessons. 

As material for such project studies in public and 
church schools, paper figures have been torn out and 
cut out, plasticine and wood representations have been 
modeled and carved, papier mache has been used ex- 
tensively, and in some of the larger projects similar 
to those described by H. Caldwell Cook in The Play 
Way, both sand tables and ground out-of-doors have 
been made fields for representing natural features. 
Illustrative Handwork for Elementary Subjects and 
Primary Handwork, two illuminating books written 
by Ella Victoria Dobbs, assistant professor of manual 
arts in the University of Missouri, will prove sugges- 
tive for mothers and teachers of elementary pupils 
alike contemplating such forms of expressional work. 
The pictures taken of the projects carried out by the 
children and the vivid descriptions of methods em- 
ployed in encouraging the activities make the books 
especially valuable. 

The naturalness and suitability of this method of 
teaching is evidenced by an observation of child play. 
Those advocating projects can hardly be considered 
creators. They have but put to educational use a com- 
mon form of expression. Even we who were so 
unfortunate as to be born before school and church cur- 
ricula were made pleasant, were on our own initia- 
tive educating ourselves without the aid of teachers — 
making clothes pins stuck together simulate horses, 
cutting out figures to represent soldiers, and construct- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 161 

ing block and corncob houses for the rag doll and 
squash families. 

Dramatizing through picture drawing. — One does 
not commonly regard picture drawing as a form of 
dramatic expression, but, nevertheless, it must often 
be classed under that head. The drawing lessons as 
once conducted in the day schools, the copying of cer- 
tain designated objects and symbols, were a bore to the 
average child, decidedly so ; but how different the crea- 
tions of the dramatic imagination, sketching behind 
propped-up books, the portrayal of "teacher and her 
beau" and such graphic representations as the "neigh- 
borly Billy goat in his favorite antics." 

The grown person who could draw pictures and tell 
stories about them was no ordinary mortal. I shall 
always remember the one who taught me to "draw 
a pig." I can still reproduce it, but it will not squeal 
any more, and its legs are wobbly and stiff. And 
mother was the best artist of all. Lines that she could 
draw would become human beings, real people who 
would talk and act "wonder stories." The Bible inci- 
dent that was most vividly impressed upon my mind 
as a boy — that of David and Goliath — she told through 
this means. A long line represented Goliath, a short 
line David, and a wavy line the brook by the side of 
which David picked up the historic pebble. I saw the 
whole story enacted more vividly than any motion pic- 
ture film could have portrayed it and when the big line 
was erased and drawn horizontally — it was not the 
line to me, of course, for imagination had clothed all 
with reality — I knew that David had come off con- 
queror and that righteousness had triumphed through 
the efforts of a boy who trusted in God. 



162 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

Books for Reference 

Mary Master Needham, Folk Festivals. 
Beegle-Crawford, Community Drama and Pageantry. 
Percival Chubb and Associates, Festivals and Plays. 
Katharine Lee Bates, The English Religious Drama. 
Stella G. S. Perry, When Mother Lets Us Act. 
John K. C. Chesshire, Bethlehem Tableaux from Be- 
hind the Scenes. 
Wade C. Smith, The Little Jetts Telling Bible Stories. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 163 



CHAPTER XI 

TYPES OF DRAMATIC PRODUCTIONS 
(Continued) 

Certain types of dramatic productions, such as 
musical dramas, screen plays, and those dealing ex- 
clusively with religious themes, because of their na- 
ture demand special treatment. 

Musical Drama 

Drama and music are two closely related arts. As 
stated before, they were brought up together. Their 
early home was the church, and their mother, Religion. 
It is not at all strange, therefore, that we should see 
them running hand in hand in their infancy, learning 
by experience, one pulling forward when the other hes- 
itantly held back afraid to enter into strange and un- 
familiar ways of expression. They are little more 
than children yet, full of caprice and the exuberance 
of youth which knows not the bounds of restraint. 
This is very evident when we consider the harsh noises 
now known as "jazz" which have recently been pro- 
duced in the name of music, and the undignified and 
even shocking performances in the cabaret and on the 
stage credited to drama. Yet the early influence has 
not been for naught. Singly and together, they have 
given expression to the highest and purest emotions, in- 
terpreted life and elevated man from the sordid world 
of reality to the realm of the spiritual, and there re- 



164 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

vealed to it the beauty and desirability of the virtues 
extolled by religion. 

Singing games and folk dances. — At times the 
musical interest is subordinate to the dramatic, becom- 
ing merely an assisting art, accompanying and supple- 
menting. Examples of this are such singing or rhyth- 
mical games of dramatic or semidramatic nature as 
"The Farmer in the Dell/' "The Mulberry Bush," 
"London Bridge is Falling Down/' and "Heigh-O-the 
Cherry-Oh"; or such as "This Little Pig Went to 
Market/' "Patty Cake, Patty Cake," "Bean Porridge 
Hot," and numerous other finger and imitative plays. 
Folk dances, all classes of rhythmic movement, 
aesthetic and interpretive, and also the drama of primi- 
tive people, with its mimetic acting, weird chanting, 
and strange music, may also be placed in the same gen- 
eral class. 

Dramatic songs. — Classification of dramatic songs 
compels us to go back before modern musical composi- 
tions. We must include Greek and Roman produc- 
tions; biblical songs such as the "Song of Solomon," 
"Miriam's Song," and the "Psalms of Ascent or Pil- 
grim Sons," and the many songs of the Christian 
Church during the Middle Ages, since they early as- 
sumed dramatic form and were acted out even in con- 
nection with religious services. Some of the ballads 
sung by the jolly wandering singers, Jongleurs, Min- 
strels, and Meistersingers fall in line with these, as do 
also many folk songs, and certain recitative songs com- 
mon to many people to-day. 

The cantata. — The cantata was originally a musi- 
cal recitative, sung by one person to the accompani- 
ment of a stringed instrument — quite a different thing 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 165 

from the present cantata, which may utilize an orches- 
tra of one hundred instruments and a chorus of a thou- 
sand or more voices. 

Its theme may be either sacred or secular. When 
secular it is usually a lyric drama or story sung to 
music, rarely acted out, although certain musical com- 
positions of a dramatic nature which are similar to the 
cantata in some respects, are staged. When the can- 
tata is sacred it may differ from the oratorio little other 
than in length, it being shorter. 

Its chief value lies in its power of uniting large 
groups of people in helpful and pleasurable musical 
festivals. It also encourages an appreciation of the 
best in musical art, for its large choruses invite many 
untrained singers to participate. In the large churches 
cantatas play such an important part on special days 
that something would seem lacking if they were not 
given. An Easter without its special music would 
hardly seem an Easter. 

The grand opera and operettas. — The grand 
opera in its present form will probably remain in the 
hands of the professional groups of dramatic singers, 
since the music, staging, and interpretation are beyond 
the means and talents of most local communities. 
Many forms of opera, however, are suitable for ama- 
teur productions. The little operettas for children 
picturing Old Mother Goose, Brownies, and Fairies — 
musical numbers interspersed with dramatic dialogue 
— have been quite common. At times they have been 
very well staged. Some of them have almost rivaled 
"Hansel and Gretel," the little opera for children. 

Nearly every village and hamlet has produced its 
operetta of a comic or humorous nature — in reality 



166 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

little farces set to simple and popular music. Some 
of these productions, as, for example, the "New Minis- 
ter," have been quite popular in many churches. They 
are usually innocent, mirth-provoking little entertain- 
ments, many times given by the choirs for the purpose 
of raising money with which to buy music for church 
use. Often they have been the means of organizing 
and holding together groups of "happy-go-lucky" 
youngsters for chorus work. An occasional perform- 
ance in a lighter vein serves as a relief from what to 
them may seem the monotony of the dignified church 
music. Only he who with a meager musical training 
has attempted to direct a small-town choir, should 
criticize such productions. Often they have been the 
stepping-stone to an appreciation and the rendition of 
the best in music. 

Pageantry uses musical drama frequently. Distance 
may make it impossible "to get over effects" in any 
other way. Music also may give the color and atmos- 
phere desired in a much more artistic manner than 
could the spoken word. At times the production may 
resemble the grand opera in many respects, and it is 
not at all certain but that a new dramatic form may be 
evolved from the pageant drama which will revolu- 
tionize the opera. Pageantry furnishes an opportunity 
for the development of new musical compositions, fit- 
ting expressions of contemporary life. 

The oratorio. — A study of the history of the ora- 
torio impresses one with the great contribution it has 
made, not only to the church, but also to the progress 
of music itself. Nearly all the great composers have 
given it their attention and added touches that it might 
be a more worthy means of expression. Many new 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 167 

musical forms have thus been developed which have 
influenced by their richness of concept nearly all later 
compositions, both sacred and secular. 

The oratorio ever since the days of its infancy, when 
with action, simple costumes, and crudely chanted 
songs it praised "God and the wonders of his work," 
has been concerned with religious themes. Unlike most 
of the arts, it has never forsaken the church, and has 
developed until it is now characterized by the highest 
quality of religious devotion and spiritual fervor. 

It has been a modern prophet speaking to thousands. 
The great choral societies of the Old World have found 
it a most fitting type of musical production for their 
use. Such oratorios as the Messiah, Elijah, Saul, and 
the Creation have been sung by them time and time 
again. 

Even America, backward about adopting classical 
music, and equally reticent about creating a new type 
of music which would be a more fitting expression of 
the "time spirit," has sung these great masterpieces so 
often that to music lovers many of them are as familiar 
as the nursery rhymes of childhood. 

Screen Plays 

Two distinct types of screen plays have been evolved. 
Magic-lantern pictures might be grouped under this 
head. They, however, resemble moving pictures in so 
many respects that they are not classified separately. 
' Shadow plays. — For a jolly, mirth-provoking social 
evening nothing can furnish more wholesome amuse- 
ment than the shadow play. The action is portrayed 
by the shadows of people who move between a strong 
light and a screen sheet-curtain stretched in a large 



168 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

double doorway, or before a specially arranged stage. 
Properties may be made of cardboard and costumes of 
newspaper. Many amusing and grotesque effects are 
possible. A story, the theme of which is illustrative, 
is read or recited while the action takes place. Many 
humorous ballads and stories lend themselves very 
readily to such presentation. 

An outline, in part, of a poem by Longfellow dra- 
matized by Stella G. Perry, in When Mother Lets Us 
Act, 1 reveals the humorous possibilities of shadow-play 
acting and suggests methods of presentation: 



This is read while 
There was a little girl 



This is acted in shadows 
"Little Girl" appears on 
sheet and makes a cour- 
tesy to audience. 
(It is better to dress up a 
boy in girl's clothes for 
this part.) 



&nd she had a little curl 



Little Girl" lifts up a curl 
made of paper from 
"middle of forehead." 



Right in the middle of her 
forehead ; 



She pulls it long and 
turns profile to audience 
and makes curl "bob." 



When she was good she 
was very, very good. 



Folds hand and looks up- 
ward, walks demurely 
across sheet. 



But when she was bad she 
was horrid. 



Sticks out tongue, stamps, 
shakes fist and is gener- 
ally naughty. 



.Moffat, Yard & Company, publishers. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 169 



She went upstairs 



When her parents, una- 
wares, 



In the kitchen were 
occupied with meals, 



She stood on her head 
On her little trundle bed 



Steps of boxes pushed on 
scene at side. "Little 
Girl" mounts them. 
(Light screened. When 
light appears again, "Lit- 
tle Girl" and steps are 
gone.) 

Small table and chair 
pushed on. Little boy in 
"grown-up" clothes, with 
cotton moustache, ap- 
pears and sits at table. 

Represents her "Father." 
A little girl, represent- 
ing "Mother," in long 
skirt, with hair dressed 
high, appears. "Mother" 
gives "Father" plate, 
knife, and fork, etc. 
(Light screened. During 
Darkness chair and table 
taken away and two big 
pillows put in their 
places.) 

"Little Girl" appears and 
suits action to the words. 



And then began hurraying 
with her heels. 



(Now you see why it is 
better for a boy to take 
this part.) 



While attending a missionary conference at Asilo- 
mar, California, the writer was greatly entertained by 
a "stunt-night" shadow play, which laughingly pre- 
sented missionary interests. Shadowed upon the screen 
China was operated upon by an awe-inspiring surgeon. 



170 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

An anaesthetic was administered. A saw and other 
ugly-looking surgical instruments were used to make 
an incision. The operation seemed to be very success- 
ful, for an alarm clock, a tin pan, about twenty feet of 
small rubber hose and what not were removed. Ad- 
mittedly this production had little educational value, 
but it harmlessly interested the young people and estab- 
lished contact with subjects designed for later definite 
educational and religious development. 

Unique and serious values may attach to shadow- 
play productions. Through it effects may be secured 
which can be obtained in no other way. For instance, 
the direct impersonation of Christ under any other 
than exceptional cases like that of the Passion Play, 
given at Oberammergau, seems sacrilegious. Through 
shadow acting, however, a new field of biblical drama 
is opened and such representation is made possible. 
One of the most noteworthy productions of this type 
was the beautiful Christmas mystery play given at 
Maurice Brown's Little Theater in Chicago. The im- 
agination clothed these shadow characters with a 
reality that could not have been attained by other pre- 
sentation methods. A person felt that just behind the 
curtain was the Christ. He lived. It was his shadow 
that was cast on the screen. So real was the impres- 
sion that one could scarcely refrain from tearing down 
the intervening screen and crying, "My Lord, my 
Lord." 

The motion pictures. — The silent drama is, except 
for the public schools and possibly the newspapers, the 
greatest educational institution in America. Oh, no, it 
hardly regards itself as such. It aims to give pleasure 
to people, to present attractive performances, 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 171 

that financial returns may justify production. 
But, nevertheless, reaching about eight million 
five hundred thousand of our population, as it 
does daily, it must be reckoned with as an educa- 
tive force. It realistically portrays foreign customs, 
peoples, and news events; and yet, often to "get a 
laugh," it misrepresents. It unfolds the beauty and 
desirability of Christlikeness ; and yet at times, it rep- 
resents evil in such attractive guise that it is welcomed 
and acclaimed a virtue. It touches the emotions and 
prompts a person to live in accord with the best princi- 
ples of God and man; and again it stimulates fiery pas- 
sions through its suggestive pictures and turns out the 
individual a beast upon society. 

Censorship has not adequately controlled it, and 
while at times its message is directly potent for good, 
it is often one of the most demoralizing forces in socie- 
ty. It is here and must be taken into account. Anath- 
ema will not better it. Only two avenues are open 
through which it may gain its proper place in society — 
a more rigid control of censorship, or a movement 
which will make it other than a commercial institution 
and place it on a par with our public libraries and pub- 
lic schools. Thus it may become an educational insti- 
tution with a constructive program, one presenting 
photo plays which will satisfy the normal instincts of 
childhood and age, and promote wholesome intellectual 
and moral development. 

Exclusively Religious Productions 

Dramatic expression in no sense excludes religious 
presentation. Many types of drama have been adapted 
to religious purposes. 



172 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

Missionary demonstrations. — The desire to picture 
the actual conditions of mission fields as a part of mis- 
sionary education has led to the development of a type 
of drama which, for the want of a better name, we 
shall call missionary demonstrations. They have often 
been called life plays, or life studies. In content they 
are similar to the speeches of many missionaries — con- 
crete pictures of life. They are acted-out representa- 
tions of actual occurrences. Hence their effectiveness 
is usually due to their realism rather than to artistic 
merit. 

Hospital scenes, native weddings, religious cere- 
monies, and such simple acts as grinding corn, making 
pottery, etc., are commonly chosen for portrayal. 
Many such productions are not presented on a stage but 
in booths before which crowds pass. Often players go 
from booth to booth. Thus one man may carry out 
his little act in sequence at the village mosque, in the 
home of a friend, and then in the market place. Fre- 
quently large numbers of player-people leave the booths 
simultaneously to join in the representation of a "fu- 
neral procession," a village wedding, or other enacted 
ceremonial. 

The script of these productions is often a mere out- 
line, like a scenario, indicating action rather than dia- 
logue. Interpolations by the director, or some other 
person, emphasize and explain, as do the words which 
flash on the motion picture screens. The difficulty of 
staging such script becomes at once apparent. The 
task is one of mirroring life as it actually is. This 
almost requires a firsthand knowledge of the field pic- 
tured, for few productions have been made what some 
choose to call "fool proof" — those with descriptions 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 173 

sufficiently clear to enable the uninitiated to be his- 
torically accurate and to give the local color and at- 
mosphere necessary for illusion. 

Bible story plays. — Chapter VI has dealt at length 
with the different types of story dramatization. Here 
we need but mention Bible story plays. Such plays 
may be of invaluable service to persons working with 
children of Primary and Junior age. 

Recently teachers in the church school with which 
the writer is associated have been "working up" two 
Bible parables for a department party. The girls are 
dramatizing The Wise and Foolish Virgins; the 
boys, The Good Samaritan. The children have sug- 
gested many innovations. The girls had to have a bride 
in their story play, and so one was added. The boys 
thought it best to divide their little drama into two 
scenes. As was to be expected, they all wanted to take 
the part of the robbers, and it is needless to say that 
they acted this part with vigor and enthusiasm. The 
second scene which portrayed the Good Samaritan in 
the Inn permitted the introduction of much original 
dialogue and action. 

The plays, of course, are crude — not finished per- 
formances. The stories, however, have become fa- 
miliar to all — so familiar that players change parts at 
nearly every production. For instance, the person 
who takes the part of the Good Samaritan one time 
may be the robber or the inn-keeper the next. 

Enthusiasm and spontaneity characterizes all the 
action. As in the free play of the school ground, the 
players throw themselves into their parts with zest 
and whole-heartedness. They are no more conscious 
of onlookers than are children about their games. In 



174 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

fact, the dramatization has become a great game in 
which all take a part. 

Programs. — The various church boards have en- 
deavored to celebrate days of special significance to the 
church by means of programs of a dramatic nature. 
To a great extent these exercises have been made up of 
responsive readings, symbolic dialogues, recitations, 
solos, and choral selections. Now, there is a growing 
tendency to make such programs more dramatic by the 
introduction of processionals, antiphonal singing, and 
simple pageantry. Pantomimes and tableaux likewise 
have been introduced. Certain tableaux representing 
nativity scenes have been especially effective. 

Passion plays. — Passion plays, or miracles, as they 
were called during the mediaeval period, purpose to por- 
tray the Passion of Christ. There is no doubt that 
these productions, representing the Passion of our 
Lord, have filled an important teaching function. 
While there is a hesitancy on the part of the church to 
employ to any great extent such method of teaching 
in the present age, certain early dramatic rites remain 
with us. 

Jesus asked his disciples to reenact one scene in his 
life — the Last Supper. They obeyed, and we as fol- 
lowers continue the same sacrament. We do not think 
of it as drama. It is not drama as usually accepted. 
Like processes are involved, however, and the values 
are the same as those gained through Educational Dra- 
matics. The individual profits by reliving a past ex- 
perience. Jesus understood the psychology back of 
such symbolism. He felt that if his followers, in the 
spirit of prayer and devotion, performed the sacred 
rite of breaking bread as he had broken it the night of 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 175 

the Last Supper, association would awaken the emo- 
tions that had been aroused while he was with them. 
The sacrament of baptism and other manifestations of 
religious expression common to the Christian Church, 
evoke similar responses. 

Certain of the Passion plays have had a marked in- 
fluence on individual and community life. The one 
best known to us and referred to before, is presented 
every ten years in the little village of Oberammergau. 
This is in no sense a show — a spectacular performance. 
It is a solemn experience for the players and audience 
— a living over and beholding the life of our Lord and 
his disciples as revealed in the Scriptures. Prepara- 
tion and interpretation are characterized by a spirit of 
piety and devotion. 

The attitude of the people toward this production is 
revealed by the speech given by the parish pastor the 
Sunday before one of the performances. In this ad- 
dress he urged them to remember that they, simple coun- 
try people, were not to hope to shine as actors. Their 
holy vow, he stated, obligated them to live, not alone 
act, in a way that would not bring a reproach upon the 
Christ whose Passion they were to portray. 

With like motive animating religious drama, here 
and now, it cannot fail to awaken and quicken spiritual 
life and fulfill its solemn service to the church. It has 
a sacred office. 

Books for Reference 

Stella G. S. Perry, When Mother Lets Us Act. 
John K. C. Chesshire, Bethlehem Tableaux from Be- 
hind the Scenes. 



176 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

Helen L. Willcox, Mission Study through Educational 

Dramatics. 
Percival Chubb and Associates, Festivals and Plays. 
Katharine Lee Bates, The English Religious Drama. 
Luella A. Palmer, Play Life in the First Eight Years. 
Elizabeth Erwin Miller, The Dramatization of Bible 

Stories. 
Bartholomew and Lawrence, Music for Everybody. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 177 

CHAPTER XII 

WHERE TO USE EDUCATIONAL DRAMATICS 

The results following the introduction of Educa- 
tional Dramatics into the day schools have justified 
other educational agencies in their attempts to make 
use of dramatic interest to achieve their especial edu- 
cative ends. While opposition is encountered in certain 
quarters to this method of teaching, because of a fail- 
ure to understand the principles involved, and while 
this method has continued to fail when handled ig- 
norantly or carelessly, it is daily gaining recognition 
from leaders in secular and religious education. 

The Church 

Educational Dramatics does not confine its activities 
to any one institution. The church as w r ell as the 
home, the school, and community organizations may 
benefit by dramatic production. As the religious 
drama through the miracles and moralities once molded 
public opinion and promoted Christian living, so may 
Educational Dramatics preach a twentieth-century 
gospel. 

Sunday evening services. — Vacant pews at Sun- 
day evening services are a challenge to religious leaders. 
Some have responded by providing moving pictures 
and so gained a hearing for the gospel message. 
Others, beginning to realize the value of direct dra- 
matic presentation, have introduced local missionary 
and biblical pageants and demonstrations with pro- 



178 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

nounced success. Children alternating with young peo- 
ple have been used, and even adults have found pleas- 
ure and profit in the presentation of worthy themes. 
To the small church, especially, or one not wishing to 
finance a great undertaking, a means is thus furnished 
of stimulating a community-wide interest in religious 
subjects, and of increasing church attendance. A pro- 
gram of dramatic activities can and should serve as a 
training school in religious education. 

Young people's societies. — Educational Dramatics 
may introduce into the young people's devotional meet- 
ing many innovations of special value. An occasional 
pageant full of local color will increase attendance and 
arouse enthusiasm for future work. A demonstra- 
tion of a Chinese or Hindu wedding in connection 
with mission study classes will furnish a crowd for 
a missionary or life service appeal. Services in which 
a people of other days or of other countries are repre- 
sented, such as a "Quaker Meeting," or an "Early 
Candle Light Service," have been directed by the 
author with success. 

The "Quaker Meeting," of course, was planned, but 
there was no visible leader, and the young people spoke, 
or led in song as the Spirit moved them. A crowd of 
one hundred and seventy became participants and 
throughout the whole dramatic presentation, for it was 
nothing more or less than a dramatic representation 
of a service, there was a spirit of devotion, calm and 
yet searching, much like that which one notices among 
a devout and reverent people when they gather together 
for conference and prayer. 

Missionary societies. — Missionary societies were 
leaders in putting forth missionary fact in dramatic 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 179 

form. In the last ten or twelve years numerous 
playlets presenting missionary problems have been 
written. Many publicity organs for different mission- 
ary branches have from time to time printed short 
plays that are easily produced. They have also given 
helpful suggestions for creating interest in missionary 
fields by dramatic method, and often times their pro- 
grams, especially those for the Junior organizations, 
have been almost entirely dramatic in nature. To so 
utilize the play activity benefits the children, helps 
hold together their missionary organizations, and stim- 
ulates study. Children thus can be made to feel that 
they are doing a teaching service, and that they are 
directly aiding those in need. Such instruction will 
early inculcate a sense of personal responsibility toward 
world needs. 

Children's Sunday afternoon story hour. — The 
Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York city has 
for some time been carrying on a unique and inter- 
esting Sunday afternoon story hour for the purpose of 
teaching art. The Sunday the writer was present a 
crowd of perhaps four or five hundred children made 
up the audience. First a story woven about a selected 
work of art and the artist was told, much use being 
made of descriptions. After the story, pictures around 
which the story had been made were thrown on a 
screen. The children at once were able to recognize 
the characters mentioned and to pick out other points 
of interest. After the pictures were shown, a scene 
from the story told the week before was dramatized by 
several children who, during the week, had studied the 
story further under the direction of the instructor. 
Then the children were directed as to where they would 



180 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

find the described pictures in the Museum. Thus use 
was made of the most valuable means of giving the 
children knowledge of the resources of the Museum 
opened to them. 

Public libraries and playgrounds also have been mak- 
ing much use of a story hour for teaching, many of 
them playing the story after it has been told. Emma 
Sheridan Fry for some time conducted a Story-Play- 
ing Hour in the Educational Alliance Building, in New 
York city. It was held on Sunday afternoons. Large 
crowds came to hear and take part in the presentations. 
Nothing forbids such methods of instructing children 
in the truths of Christianity. Surely, it would operate 
as well in church as in hall or library and serve the 
purpose of religion even as it serves art and entertain- 
ment. 

Social evenings. — The question, "Well, yes, that 
would be fine if we could all get together, but what 
could we do?" is always raised by those who are in 
charge of the social times for young people and chil- 
dren. The Church School Magazine has been answer- 
ing that question by giving plans for using the dramatic 
instincts. 

One Sunday school has a China cupboard. At cer- 
tain times the children come to the church and play 
"grown-ups," using the dishes. Certain ones act as 
hostesses and serve, thereby gaining knowledge and 
practice of the proper ways of serving. In settlement 
neighborhoods and places where the children have no 
chance to learn such things in the home, such activities 
are very valuable. Children so instructed will know 
how to give added touches to their own homes, that will 
make them cheerful and indeed homelike. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 181 

Much entertainment results when the older young 
folks act out Bible stories in pantomime, or in the regu- 
lar play style, using dialogue. For such productions 
the leader may well outline suggestions concerning the 
parts and the action, and give sufficient time for the 
players to work up interesting little productions. 

If a mirth-provoking evening is desired, the crowd 
may be divided into groups and given outlines of mov- 
ing picture plots to "act out." In such dramas, strings 
hanging from doorways very well represent prison 
bars, fat men chugging along with flash lights make 
admirable engines, and improvised costumes transform 
characters in an amazing manner. The acting and 
"working up" of the plots will furnish "side-splittting" 
entertainment for an entire evening. 

Church conventions. — It is hardly necessary to 
state the use which has been made of pageants at large 
gatherings of church organizations. The World in 
Boston in 191 1, in Baltimore in 19 12, the Centenary 
Celebration of the Methodist Churches in Columbus, 
Ohio, in 19 19, and the Congregational World in Bos- 
ton in 1920 all have found in pageantry a fitting way 
to give expression to Christian truth. Missionary 
Boards and Young People's Societies at State, district, 
and national meetings have featured this type of ex- 
pression. The 1920 International Sunday School Con- 
vention held in Tokio, Japan, created a special division 
of pageantry. And during the past year many of the 
State Sunday school conventions have made pageants 
an important part of their gatherings. Many short, 
simple productions have been selected and produced. 
Those which could be worked up during the convention 
period have usually been preferred. 



182 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 



The Church School 

Many church school leaders and editors of religious 
publications, after having made a careful study of the 
possibilities of Educational Dramatics, have enthusias- 
tically welcomed it as an asset to the church school. 
Educational Dramatics seems to have justified this 
recognition. 

The study period.— Modern church school execu- 
tives, appreciating the value of directed dramatic ex- 
pression, are changing courses of study and revising 
lesson helps that the children may profit by this method 
of teaching. Results measured by interest in the cur- 
riculum and in the development of the scholars indicate 
the practicability of this new program of class activities. 
Department leaders who have given it a fair trial would 
not think of going back to the former methods of 
teaching. 

While Educational Dramatics has been used more 
or less in the elementary departments of the church 
school, and although there is a systematic effort on 
the part of the few who realize its value to introduce 
it in the advanced grades, as yet the idea has met with 
little encouragement. The old notion which regards 
play as mere useless enjoyment is still current, and, of 
course, since the conception prevails that the church 
school is but a place for study and devotion, it is not 
at all surprising that there should be some opposition 
to a play program in connection with the Sunday morn- 
ing study period. 

Opening service of worship. — In the schools of 
many churches, dramatic expression has made the 
opening service of worship both attractive and 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 183 

educative. Some Missionary Superintendents, alive 
to the possibilities of dramatic presentation, have 
prepared short demonstrations, representing scenes of 
foreign countries and customs of other peoples, thereby 
not only giving the children engaged a valuable point 
of contact and sympathy with the peoples of the world, 
but also teaching a lesson to those who are in the 
audience. 

When the demonstrations are "worked up" in the 
classroom as part of the study, attention being given 
to the principles of Educational Dramatics, valuable 
results are achieved. In case the church school is 
graded, programs of this type may be used at the de- 
partment services of worship, or taken over to other 
departments. 

The religious day schools — The church day 
schools of many communities and local churches have 
made use of the play spirit in teaching children. Dra- 
matization has stimulated interest in lessons so that 
children have begged for added time in the classroom. 
Parents and the State compel children to attend the 
secular day schools. Compulsory attendance in church 
day schools is neither possible nor advisable. Hence 
the practical need of methods of instruction that in 
themselves attract children and make the work enjoy- 
able. Dramatization serves this purpose, since all chil- 
dren like to hear and act a good story. It gives expres- 
sion to spontaneous motives and will be a big factor in 
making any church day school a success. 

Edgar B. Gordon, in The Church School, for April, 
1920, thus states the value of the dramatic method in 
the church educational program : 

"The gradual growth of the educational principle of 



1 84 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

'learning by doing' has brought into play a larger 
measure of flexibility in classroom methods and has 
supplemented the former procedure of book study and 
recitation by certain individual freedom, initiative, and 
laboratory method. In a large measure the dramatic 
method is employed in accomplishing these results. 
Children are encouraged to act out every lesson which 
has any dramatic possibilities. This is resulting in a 
larger attractiveness for the school and a more normal 
approach to the child mind. 

"I believe that there is a great and as yet untouched 
field for the use of this idea in Sunday school work 
and in the church services. Last summer at the Madi- 
son Religious Day School the experiment was made of 
permitting a class of boys and girls to dramatize some 
of the lessons which they studied. The very decided 
increase in interest which they manifested was a good 
indication of the value of the method. At a summer 
camp for children, conducted at Eliot, Maine, by Mr. 
Sidney Lanier, son of the famous poet, the dramatic 
method is employed solely in the religious training. 
Quite remarkable little dramas, based upon biblical 
themes, are devised and presented by the children." 

Interdenominational and Nondenominational 
Organizations 

Certain interdenominational and nondenominational 
organizations promoting religious interests have made 
effective use of pageantry and dramatics in their social, 
recreational, and educational programs. 

Camps. — Boys' and girls' camps under the auspices 
of such organizations as the Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 185 

Boy Scouts of America, and State or district Sunday- 
School Associations are excellent places to introduce 
dramatic "stunts," simple plays, and pageants. Mock 
trials and minstrel shows usually are favorites with 
boys. Dramatic ceremonial rites, clever comedy 
sketches of local interest, and camp fire programs ap- 
peal to girls. These mirth-provoking entertainments 
are never forgotten. Years afterward participants will 
laugh as they think over or narrate such scenes or 
events. 

Clubs. — "Let's do something" is the actual if not 
spoken slogan of every boys' and girls' organization. 
Youth is eager and restless — longing for new experi- 
ences, not content with inactivity. His whole being 
cries, out, "Do, do." 

Dramatics furnishes an outlet for the "let's-do" spir- 
it. Gangs of "bad boys" and cliques of reckless and 
giddy girls have had their interests changed and been 
taught graciousness of manner and virtuous living 
through dramatic programs sponsored by Christian 
leaders in social settlements, community houses, 
churches, and schools. 

In older groups of young people, serious study of 
plays and play production may well be given. With 
younger children, however, it is often best to make the 
dramatic activities but one of the program features. 
The ages and interests of players will determine the 
types of plays and pageants which may be produced. 
Under proper direction, the classics and many of the 
better one-act plays may be staged. Such has been 
done by organizations like Hull House in Chicago, the 
Educational Alliance, and the Henry Street Settlement 
in New York city. 



186 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 



The Community 

The church should not think that its task is com- 
pleted when it ministers to those who are regular at- 
tendants at its services. It has a further evangelizing 
mission — a duty to those who have become indif- 
ferent and to those who, because of environmental rea- 
sons, have never been led into an appreciation of the 
Christian way of life. It must project itself into the 
community life, not only as a leader in social and phil- 
anthropic undertakings, but also as an inspirer and a 
spiritualizer. 

The present world, struggling from under the crush- 
ing weight of a heartless materialism to a spiritual 
awakening, hurls a challenge to the church. Thus and 
now is offered the greatest opportunity for service that 
has been presented since the time of Wesley. Yet how 
give the people what they crave, when they have 
spurned the usual methods of presentation? This ques- 
tion bewilders and confuses both preacher and layman. 
They hardly know how to meet the situation. The 
theater, while not prompted by religious motives, like- 
wise begins to appreciate the present desire for the spir- 
itual message. It sometimes presents religious or 
semireligious plays, and others which emphasize the 
nobler virtues, thus ministering to a class which the 
church fails to reach. 

Dramatic presentation though commercialized and 
perfected by the theater is not necessarily confined to 
the stage. Recall our earlier statement that it grew up 
in the church, and when that institution lost its popu- 
lar hold, it was the prophet which taught Christian 
truths through the homely and simple miracle and mor- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 187 

ality plays. It is still a prophet of truth, though it set 
up its pulpit elsewhere than in the church. As it once 
spiritualized an ignorant and demoralized people, it 
may now satisfy the soul-hunger of the present day. 
What Luther and Wesley have been in the past it may 
be in this generation — a living force which will draw 
the world to God. It behooves the church again to 
wield it as an instrument of good. 

Holy and holidays. — All holidays offer a means of 
approach to the multitudes, and with care they can be 
made occasions of spiritual and moral refreshment. 
The common appeal of such occasions may be taken 
into account by the church in its own services and also 
for those interests which it may sponsor in the com- 
munity. Pageantry is particularly adapted to the needs 
of these special days. Its nature excludes the vulgar 
and the crude, and makes possible lofty and aesthetic 
representations. It can unify, revive and spiritualize 
many communities where other methods have failed. 

It may serve as a teacher of truth on a large scale. 
As Jesus and his disciples went from place to place 
telling their story of salvation, this herald of righteous- 
ness may preach the gospel to many who never enter 
the church. At times it may be necessary to stimulate 
new productions or inaugurate new traditions. At 
others, local ceremonials may be taken over and di- 
rected for spiritual ends. For instance, in New York 
city, on Thanksgiving Day, the children dress in cos- 
tumes which they themselves have devised, and parade 
up and down the streets. In the evening, certain areas 
are blocked off from the traffic and the streets are left 
free for the older merrymakers. A church might, 
with the help of its young people, produce a street 



1 88 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

pageant of such worth that it would make a lasting 
impression upon the thousands who annually crowd the 
streets to see the masqueraders, and might readily 
supersede the ordinary type. 

No holy fete and festal day should be neglected by 
the church. Thanksgiving has in the past been cele- 
brated in an altogether different manner than was 
originally intended by the Pilgrim Fathers, as evi- 
denced by the small handful of people who usually at- 
tend the church service to render thanks, and the 
large crowd at the place of amusement. This day can 
very well be made the occasion of an event worthy of 
its original significance if a program artistic and stu- 
pendous enough to attract the attention of the whole 
community is staged. Similar methods of commemo- 
rating or celebrating national or religious festivals can 
likewise be planned, which will emphasize their signifi- 
cance and make them other than occasions of gas- 
tronomic and emotional excesses. 

Annual gatherings. — Outdoor pageantry might 
well take an important place in all community gather- 
ings such as County and State Fairs, Soldier Reunions, 
Old Settler's Days, and Plowing Matches. Thousands 
of people attend such celebrations annually, the chief 
attractions being the crowd, the spectacular events 
where men and women risk life and limb, and the rac- 
ing. With but few exceptions, the appeal is altogether 
sensational and of a type which is not always produc- 
tive of good. Most people, after a day of such diver- 
sion, come home tired and disgusted and unfit for 
their daily tasks. A performance utilizing the best 
talent of a county or district would add to the attrac- 
tiveness of any such gathering and give satisfaction to 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 189 

the aesthetic, religious, and intellectual desires of many 
people in the smaller, out-of-the-way communities, who 
are isolated, as it were, and unable to see the better 
performances, dramatic and musical. 

Simple dramatizations for group meetings. — Even 
the more simple demonstrations of the church school 
can be a means of teaching religious truths and fur- 
nishing entertainment which is inspirational. In hos- 
pital wards, and homes for the aged and destitute are 
inmates who ache for touch with outside life. Older 
church school children may give dramatizations in 
jails. Shop meetings also offer an opportunity to a live 
church. Many men and women during their rest pe- 
riod eagerly listen to apt and well chosen dramatiza- 
tions. The noon rest hour has been so used in the old 
country to teach history and literature. Often there 
amateurs go from place to place acting out simple folk 
tales and historical incidents. By similar methods in 
our cities, the church may interest individuals in God's 
message and his house. 

The Home 

Dramatics in the home? Yes, the home offers more 
opportunities for dramatic expression than any other 
institution. Finger plays, singing games, rhythmic 
exercises, tableaux, charades, puppets, bottle dolls, 
pantomimes, story plays, masquerades, and all "make- 
believe" play, as has already been mentioned, are com- 
mon to homes where the play spirit has not been 
crushed. 

Home recreation and dramatic festivals. — Happy 
the home which is made a place of play for all the 
members of the family — where father comes home 



190 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

from work and gets his recreation in a wholesome 
frolic with the children, where mother keeps young in 
spirit and health by becoming a playmate and a partner 
in the games of childhood. Such a home becomes a 
center of common interest and understanding. 

Seasonal festivals, birthdays, and special vacation 
trips afford pleasurable and profitable recreation. Con- 
sider the enjoyment which comes to all the members of 
the family through the home Christmas tree and the 
Santa Claus. Of course the father who puts on white 
whiskers and dresses in red garments which have been 
extended to proper proportions by several feather pil- 
lows, takes part in such dramatization for the sake of 
the children — that is, he states that as his reason. It 
is a question, however, who gets the most genuine 
pleasure — the children thrilled with excitement, the 
mother whose careful planning and effort has helped 
make the festive occasion a success, or the father who 
puffs and sweats as he does droll antics and jingles 
sleigh bells in imitation of "Johy Old Saint Nick." 
Through dramatic undertakings this Christmas spirit 
can be kept alive all the year and the fireside hour, the 
half -holiday, and the Sunday recreation period made 
occasions of real joy. 

A play training school. — Home play can be made 
educative in every sense of the word. One busy 
woman of the writer's acquaintance controlled the 
play of her children in a unique manner. She found 
that she could tell familiar stories and recite dramatic 
poems while she sewed and did such work as shelling 
peas or peeling potatoes. These stories the children 
dramatized in pantomime or through project methods. 
One of the favorites was the Lady of Shalot. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 191 

For this play the children improvised dolls and stage- 
settings. Their ingenuity in creative effort knew no 
limitations. Twigs stuck in spools served as trees; 
pebbles marked the river course; the island and castle 
were built of rocks; the mirror was a small shaving 
glass; the heroes and heroines were rag- and clothes- 
pin dolls dressed in odds and ends of material; the 
boat was a small, milk-white pickle dish; and the gal- 
lant charger was a toy donkey. 

O yes, to the adult, such improvisement seems amus- 
ing, but the ready imagination of the children accepted 
and transformed the clumsiest of these substitutes with 
no embarrassment. Day after day the Lady of Shalot 
acted out her tragedy with the aid of the knights and 
lesser personages. 

A play training school of religious expression. — 
Odd moments may be spent in giving religious instruc- 
tion. There is the short period in the evening just be- 
fore dinner. You have finished your work downtown, 
have washed, and are waiting for the potatoes to cook. 
Just then you can stage a little dramatization. It can- 
not be done? I see you do not know the "Jetts." They 
work rapidly and if I am not mistaken, they will fur- 
nish you more wholesome recreation than the evening 
paper. 

Dorothy, the baby, will want to climb on your lap 
to view the pen and ink dramatization taking place on 
your note book or on the back of an envelope. You 
see a great stage place is not required. Idanet and 
Donald will jiggle your arms in their excitement and 
cause such royal personages as King Saul and Solomon 
in all his glory to be constructed with wavy legs; but 
that doesn't matter. Wavy legs and awkwardly placed 



192 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

arms do not embarrass the "Jetts" or hamper their 
movements. Certainly, you can draw them. It is a 
simple matter. Here they are. You will find a whole 
book full of such characters which you can call on the 
stage if you will send for Wade C. Smith's The Little 
Jetts Telling Bible Stories, The Sunday School Times 
Publishing Company. 

Figure I is David. He is carrying provisions to his brothers, 
who are fighting the Philistines. You can tell him by the fact 
that he has a basket in one hand and a shepherd's crook over 
his shoulder. Figure 2 is the mighty Goliath clothed in heavy 
armor and bearing a heavy shield. Figure 3 is in a great hurry. 
Figure 4 is expressing great joy. Figure 5 shows how easy it 
is to costume a woman "Jett." 

The "Jetts" are only a few of the many players who 
may be called into the home to teach the children the 
great truths of Christianity. I am sure that many 
fathers and mothers will want to get better acquainted 
with all these teachers of religion. 

Books for Reference 

Jay S. Stowell, Making Missions Real. 

Constance D'Arcy Mackay, Patriotic Drama in Your 

Town. 
Elizabeth Erwin Miller, The Dramatisation of Bible 

Stories. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 193 

Percival Chubb and Associates, Festivals and Plays. 
Helen L. Willcox, Mission Study Through Educa- 
tional Dramatics. 
Stella G. S. Perry, When Mother Lets Us Act. 
Wade C. Smith, The Little Jetts Telling Bible Stories. 



194 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE VALUES OF EDUCATIONAL DRAMA- 
TICS 

Those who have had practical experience in the 
use of Educational Dramatics soon come to realize the 
benefits derived from such properly supervised expres- 
sion. The growth and development of players through 
such activity is obvious. A single production may 
transform the life of an individual. Community re- 
births, also, are not uncommon. 

The Education of the Participants 

The individual participants, as has been frequently 
stated, are the chief concern of the leaders in the Edu- 
cational Dramatic movement. They receive the pri- 
mary attention. It is through them that the community 
is reached and Kingdom interests advanced. 

Emotions are regulated. — Participation in dra- 
matic productions provides the player with "moral ex- 
perience by proxy." The interpretation of characters 
initiates him into a variety of morally uplifting expe- 
riences. The individual who under scientific direc- 
tion enters whole-heartedly and spontaneously into his 
part in an educational dramatic production is stirred 
by the emotions and inspired by the impulses which 
prompted the character he plays. The stimuli and his 
responses, mental and spiritual, are not greatly differ- 
ent from what they would be if he were living the life 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 195 

portrayed. In such experiences the great law of cause 
and effect is made clear and sometimes is more vividly 
impressed upon the mind than in the experiences of 
actual life. Crime, deceit, disloyalty, and the virtues 
are shown in true relationships. To play the part of 
the villain is to realize the inner sources of his outer 
action and the injury resulting to himself and to so- 
ciety. The player enters into self-knowledge through 
widened knowledge of humanity. 

Edward T. Steiner, in his book Uncle Joe's Lincoln, 
throws an illuminating side light on the value of train- 
ing the emotions in play. Uncle Joe, the hero of the 
book, was a Hungarian who came to America about 
the time of the Civil War. He enlisted in the North- 
ern army, but lacking the spirit of patriotism which 
carried on the American men of the North and South, 
he deserted, was later captured, and sentenced to death. 
When reprieved by Lincoln, he justified the President's 
faith by later heroic action. His love and reverence for 
Lincoln, his saviour, was a spiritual absorption. When 
he returned to Hungary he secured a room in the 
Steiner home and there influenced Edward Steiner and 
his young companions to play the part of Lincoln in 
their games. They governed themselves by his princi- 
ples. The Steiner the world knows to-day, together 
with a group of honest, freedom-loving, foreign-born 
sons of America, reflects the spirit of Lincoln as a re- 
sult. 

To a limited degree, at least, ideal living in play life 
cannot but animate the personal life with high ideals. 
The lesson of how to inhibit wrong conduct is learned. 
From the controlled environment, the child moves out 
into the uncontrolled environment of the larger world, 



196 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

fortified by attitudes in which moral ideals are en- 
trenched. 

Cultural interests created. — Noticeable is the in- 
terest Educational Dramatics creates in the subject- 
matter dramatized. Children and grown people sum- 
moned to interest in a drama eagerly study all associated 
subjects. The Educational Alliance which functions 
in New York city to Americanize the immigrant popu- 
lation of the East Side, in 1903 established an educa- 
tional theater. Emma Sheridan Fry, as dramatic di- 
rector, produced Shakespeare's Tempest with a cast 
selected from the neighborhood people. 

The reaction of the community to this production 
was of unusual educational significance. The interest 
was so intense that grown people as well as the children 
wanted to study the play text. Older boys and girls 
became interested. Foreign parents, many of them 
unable to read, pored over Shakespeare with the as- 
sistance of their child tutors. A run was made on two 
nearby libraries. The demand for The Tempest 
could not be supplied; and so Alice Minnie Herts 
Heniger, the business manager of the theater, arranged 
with a good publisher for a paper-covered edition 
which would sell for ten cents. In less than a month 
a thousand copies were sold — one thousand copies of 
one of Shakespeare's plays in one of the most con- 
gested tenement districts in New York city ! 

What was done by the Educational Alliance to sup- 
port American and family interest can be done by the 
church. Drama may evoke interest in social, civic, and 
religious problems. Consider the value accruing to a 
church if one thousand people in a community turn to 
the Bible to study the background of a religious drama. 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 197 

Measure the result of focusing the attention of the 
same number of people on some specific social prob- 
lem and its associate interests. 

No better plan of creating an active sympathy can 
be formulated. The person is stirred voluntarily to 
seek for truth. In fact, he is made eager for knowl- 
edge. So, the church may find opportunity to teach and 
to train individuals for life. 

A substantial morality is achieved. — Educators 
are beginning to see the positive values coming from 
directed expressional activities. Taking as their work- 
ing basis the idea that each instinct in the child is 
placed there by the Great Educator for a definite pur- 
pose, they have endeavored to harmonize their methods 
of teaching with the child's nature. Their work is 
thereby facilitated and the child is allowed to develop 
his best selfhood in a natural and pleasurable way. It 
will thus be seen that such a premise changes the whole 
emphasis of education from one of knowing to one of 
becoming. Full development is the main idea rather 
than the acquisition of knowledge. Each impulse is 
studied and the "why-for" of it learned. Expression 
is then encouraged, and through it, such virtues as in- 
itiative, courage, friendliness, sympathy, helpfulness, 
generosity, and reverence are made real. They become 
a vital part of the child's life. By expression the child 
thus learns to know himself, to live properly in social 
relationships, and to acknowledge and harmonize him- 
self with his God and Maker. 

Failure to recognize any of these instincts when they 
appear may do an irretrievable harm. As brought out 
by William James in his chapter on "Instinct," many 
of them are implanted in the individual to give rise to 



198 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

certain habits and are but transient. If not given op- 
portunity for expression they soon cease to function. 

This may explain in part, at least, why children of 
the cotton mills who have been denied the play of nor- 
mal childhood have lost the sense of wonder and an 
appreciation for the beautiful. It also gives a plausible 
explanation of why the boy who has been brought up 
without companions may be hampered all his life by 
his unsocial attitude. If chickens who have not heard 
the cluck of the mother hen for several days will never 
heed the call thereafter, and if ducks, which normally 
take pleasure in getting wet, lose their instinctive 
desire for swimming when kept away from the water 
at a certain period of life, it is also reasonable to sup- 
pose that a girl who is not allowed an expression of 
her maternal nature in childhood will be cold and un- 
sympathetic toward children in adult life, and that a 
boy who has his instinct for reverence crushed by the 
irreverent attitude of his parents may at a later period 
fail to sense the deeper spiritual things. 

The fact that all instincts may be expressed in dra- 
matic form makes careful consideration of dramatics 
necessary. It is as though the teacher said to the child, 
"Exercise thyself unto godliness." He does an incal- 
culable harm who in training the child tries to sup- 
press God's method by which the best moral selfhood 
is achieved — that full development which is nothing 
more or less than Christlikeness. 

A means of religious expression is furnished. — 
The preacher is not the only religious teacher. Call- 
ings other than the ministry are sacred. Oratorical 
ability is not the only talent which may be consecrated 
for Christian service. God has used some voices in a 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 199 

remarkable way to sing his praises ; a Jenny Lind, men 
like Sankey, and that soulful singer Chaplain McCabe. 
He has also used the artistic ability of a Michael An- 
gelo, a Raphael, and a Hofmann to portray religious 
truths. Dramatic expression is no less an art than 
the others, and may in a degree as they, reflect the 
spirit of Christlikeness. 

Through dramatization young people, children, and 
even adults are given an opportunity to portray their 
loftiest religious ideas. Nor do they all need to par- 
ticipate in the acting itself in order to reap some of the 
highest benefits. The acting is but one of the pleasures 
accruing in a production. The poor, little hunchbacked 
girl with a big soul, in joyous anticipation, may offer 
the artistic work of her fingers; and the awkward, 
bunglesome boy, who has been declared impossible be- 
cause his mind is wide-gauged and always jumps the 
narrow-gauge track laid by scholastic pedagogues, can 
use his inventive genius in the lighting department or 
in arranging curtains and drops. Even the little chil- 
dren can be given slight tasks and impressed with the 
idea that in assisting they are ministering and preach- 
ing the Christian message. 

Community Interests Are Advanced 

Community interests command the sincere respect of 
the church. Religion is far more than a "meeting- 
house affair." The spirit of Christ projects itself into 
everyday life. It is in this larger program that drama- 
tics plays an important part. 

Character-building recreation is provided. — The 
majority of people like to enter what Jane Addams 
calls the world of dreams. They desire to escape the 



200 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

oppression of the actual. They crave the new, the un- 
usual, the strange and uncommon. They want to for- 
get the common everyday occurrences that they may 
enjoy new sensations which thrill and exhilarate. Es- 
pecially in the city, where business life and living con- 
ditions are most oppressive, is this longing manifest. 
Unless a wholesome means of escape is provided, al- 
most anything that removes the individual from the 
humdrum of existence is welcome — drugs, drink, stir- 
ring adventure, and even crime. 

Agencies that are indifferent to the causes and re- 
sults of social and moral degeneracy have not been 
slow in recognizing this fact. Harpies, they have 
preyed upon the weary victims of modern commercial- 
ism. Moving picture houses which appeal to perverted 
tastes, vaudeville shows which at best can only be 
called indecent, and theaters which feature domestic 
infidelity and intrigue and pander to sensuous desires, 
everywhere attract the jaded people by their lurid and 
suggestive advertising. Common welfare is given lit- 
tle consideration. Emotions which if properly stimu- 
lated would uplift and ennoble mankind are perverted 
for commercial purposes. Once they become perverted 
they are irresistible, and people will sacrifice almost 
everything for their satisfaction. 

Shorter hours and better wages for laboring classes 
and regular hours for clerical workers have only added 
to the seriousness of the problem. Commercialized in- 
stitutions have grown in influence until they largely 
absorb the attention of the working people during the 
recreation period. They have so influenced American 
ideals and institutions that conditions are becoming 
serious. Through lewd and lascivious bedchamber 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 201 

drama the sanctity of the marriage relation is made a 
subject of jest; the moral foundations of our national 
life are being undermined. 

Such facts must be recognized. Not only is the 
church troubled. The better element of the profes- 
sional stage is shocked. Dramas which would have 
been condemned ten years ago arouse little adverse 
criticism to-day. Early Puritanism may have barred 
from our country many worthy things, but it also kept 
from us the slime and filth which is now threatening 
to inundate us. 

The remedy? The desire for dramatic expression 
cannot be suppressed. Rules and anathema, in this 
age of indifference, cannot change what hunger and 
privation does not crush. Satisfaction will be found. 
People must be given an opportunity to forget them- 
selves, to live in new situations, to experience new 
sensations, to dream dreams. Direction of the dra- 
matic desires rather than suppression must be the aim. 
Community drama and pageantry will furnish a means 
of expression at once helpful to the individual and to 
the community. 

The restlessness which drives men to drink may be 
diverted into the harmless and satisfying activities of 
the dramatic field and society be the gainer. The so- 
cially and sometimes physically starved girl of the 
tenement districts can escape her world of sordid, dis- 
agreeable fact and enjoy in dramatic expression the 
beauty, love, and friendship she craves. The boy 
eager to do the thrilling, spectacular thing, thus may 
impersonate the hero he admires, and in the imper- 
sonation come to an appreciation of the qualities which 
have made his hero a character worthy of emulation. 



202 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

Dramatics can be recreative and in every sense of the 
word, constructive. 

Social contacts are made possible. — Any large 
dramatic production has a socializing effect. Re- 
hearsals create friendships, bind people together by 
common ties, and develop a social consciousness. Es- 
pecially is this true in the rural districts where social 
contact is lacking. In the "slack season" people long 
to get together in a friendly way. The community 
festival or drama affords the opportunity. It helps to 
satisfy the demands of the social nature ; it breaks up 
cliques and factions which tend to check community 
enterprises. 

Such is the socializing influence of pageantry that 
people who have grown disgusted with "small town" 
littleness may gain a new interest in community wel- 
fare. Neighborhood quarrels, petty disputes, and ill- 
concealed jealousies are forgotten in the pleasures of 
cooperative effort. A new spirit is engendered. It is 
as though the community had experienced a new birth. 

The popularity of such dramatic productions in 
rural districts is never questioned by those who have 
successfully undertaken them. Farmers will come for 
miles to rehearsals if the subject matter is of interest. 
In one neighborhood in Indiana where a biblical pag- 
eant was produced a wealthy farmer attended all re- 
hearsals, though his part was, as he expressed it, but 
that of "playing thunder." In one scene, with certain 
mechanical devices, he produced a sound resembling 
thunder. Others playing minor roles expressed the 
same interest and delight. 

Foreigners are Americanized. — We in this country 
should realize that an Americanization program is 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 203 

something other than a mere sugar-coating of the for- 
eigner so that he may be swallowed and absorbed at 
once into the body politic, without leaving a bad taste. 
Our new citizen resents such an attitude. He has a 
racial pride. He is conscious of certain superiorities. 
He avoids melting-pot experiences. He usually wants 
to become an American, but he also wants America 
to avail herself of his racial inheritance and he has 
much that we might well make our own. Consider 
achievements in the world of music, painting, and 
sculpturing alone. A program of intelligent apprecia- 
tion will do more to foster mutual understanding and 
promote a spirit of national unity than all merely chari- 
table advances. 

In encouraging the artistic expression of the foreign 
peoples, the schools and settlements have been work- 
ing with such end in view. They have realized that the 
drama is an integrating influence which overcomes race 
and class prejudices and awakens new sympathies and 
appreciations. Hull House, Chicago, for years has 
carried out a dramatic program of plays, pageants, and 
festivals. The production, by a colony of Greeks, of 
Ajax of Sophocles, a classic Greek drama in ancient 
text which Jane Addams describes in Twenty Years at 
Hull House, is but one of the many dramas staged in 
the settlement theater. 

Henry Street Settlement, New York city, likewise, 
has stimulated race pride, race intelligence, and patri- 
otism through dramatic undertakings. An appeal is 
made to the racial and religious interests. Cycles of 
sacred rituals, poetical interpretations of ceremonies 
cherished by the Jewish peoples have been carried out. 
Through such dramatic festivals the community as a 



204 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

whole has been led into an appreciation of the rich 
heritage of Hebrew people and of their special talents. 
In 191 1 the ten settlements of Brooklyn, New York, 
united in giving "The Pageant of Patriots." Each 
settlement was responsible for an episode. Thus one 
depicted scenes from the life of Daniel Boone, another 
from the life of Franklin, and another from the life of 
Lincoln. The episodic nature made possible separate 
rehearsals. Fully ten thousand people, a large per- 
centage of them being of foreign birth or of foreign 
parentage, made up the audience. Who can estimate 
the value of such a performance? 

Kingdom Interests Are Advanced 

Christ's kingdom will not be brought in by interces- 
sory prayer alone. World evangelization demands a 
program which will create new sympathies and stimu- 
late to Christian activity. Educational Dramatics, al- 
ready, is meeting this need. 

World-problems presented vividly. — The prayer of 
the missionaries and other Christian workers every- 
where has been for a means whereby they might show 
world needs in so vivid a way that people would be in- 
spired to give themselves and their money to carry on 
the great unfinished work of the Master. 

Through dramatic presentation their prayer is being 
answered. Several of the most effective means by 
which knowledge is transmitted may thus be used to 
make a vivid and lasting impression; the beauty of 
rhythmic word and music, movement and artistic color- 
ing, pungent odors of burning incense, and, to the par- 
ticipants, values which come through the motor nerve 
centers, in the acting itself. In an attractive and true- 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 205 

to-life way, cross sections of the home land, Africa, 
India, and China have been shown, and shown so real- 
istically that the audience has experienced the same 
longing to be of service that workers on the field feel 
when they see the great soul hunger for the Gospel. 

Dr. George Mecklenberg says of such method: "It 
would be difficult to overstate the value of pageantry 
in Missionary Education. We have heard about mis- 
sions and we have read about missions, but we need to 
come to action and we will not do this until we see and 
feel missions. The India Mass Movement Scene as 
presented in the Area Retreats conducted by the De- 
partment of Evangelism, helped in a marvelous way to 
make us feel the throb of the dying world. It aroused 
a veritable burning passion for world salvation. It 
seems to me that we are face to face with a new method 
of teaching missionary fact, and the sooner this can be 
developed and made of service, the better for the 
church." 

It is not only the Christian workers who feel the need 
of a vivid concrete method of presentation. All so- 
cial and civic leaders voice the same desire. Many a 
faithful worker struggling against almost overwhelm- 
ing odds makes the remark : "I have done my very 
best to make known Christian facts and to move my 
people to action. I don't seem to be able to arouse 
them from indifference. If only I could make them 
see conditions in their proper relationship !" 

Dramatic presentation makes possible this very 
showing of facts in proper relationships. It is often 
even more effective to the average person than actual 
first-hand observation. As the magnifying glass fo- 
cuses sunlight, so man through the dramatic sense 



206 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

gathers all parts of a truth into focus — a dramatic 
theme; and with such theme burns facts, life, and 
truth into the minds of the audience. 

Vocational guidance supplied. — The ability to in- 
duce life processes through dramatic expression makes 
it a fitting means for vocational guidance. What may 
be expected of a trade, its opportunities, rewards, and 
obligations can be shown. And, greater than all, from 
the angle of the church, the results of choice of voca- 
tion can be portrayed and portrayed from the Chris- 
tian viewpoint. The sordidness of self-centered ideals 
may be revealed. Narrow and bigoted educational, 
social, and political aspirations lose their halos. The 
individual is challenged to service, since the needs and 
opportunities of various callings are visualized and 
the rewards and satisfaction of sacrificial effort are 
made manifest. Experience justifies these conclusions. 

The Rev. H. H. Downey, a pastor in Syracuse, New 
York, has one hundred and thirty-seven young people 
in his church who have made Christian life work deci- 
sions. Seventy-five of these are attending study classes 
each week in preparation for that service. He says 
that pageants, produced from time to time in his 
church, have been in large measure responsible for this 
result. Bishop F. T. Keeney while executive secretary 
of the Department of Spiritual Resources in the Cen- 
tenary Conservation Committee, produced with Dr. 
C. E. Powell, in an impromptu way, in the New Or- 
leans and Chattanooga Areas, the India Mass Move- 
ment Scene. He reports that wherever they went the 
people were profoundly influenced, and that in many 
places definite Christian lifework decisions were made. 

The large number of the pageants and demonstra- 




SCENE FROM PAGEANT, "THE WAYFARER" 



IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 207 

tions produced during the Centenary Celebration of 
the Methodist churches in Columbus, Ohio, in 191 9, 
were especially evangelistic in their appeal, so much so 
that leading clergymen from all over the world were 
glad to lend them their support, often to the extent of 
taking roles themselves. "He took part in the Chinese 
Exhibits and became so interested that he volunteered 
for foreign service as a missionary in China," and, 
"Yes, four of the girls in my Japanese demonstrations 
are entering college this fall in preparation for Chris- 
tian service," are common statements of those who 
directed such activities. 

World evangelization. — At a period when Chris- 
tianity was facing one of its greatest crises, that of 
teaching a people who knew not the great facts of 
Christendom, the religious drama called by the early 
church "The Miracles" proved to be a most effective 
means of gaining converts for the faith. Scenes from 
the life of the Lord were portrayed, and portrayed so 
vividly that a people who had no interest in the Chris- 
tian religion became a part of this religious experience, 
and being touched were led to say as did the Roman 
centurion, "Truly this was the Son of God." 

In our time the drama may be no less a force for 
righteousness. Consider the effect of the "Wayfarer 
Pageant" given in Madison Square Garden, New York 
city. Jewish office girls, Italian laborers, foreigners 
from the downtown section of the city, actors from 
the professional stage, and church people from the up- 
town districts and suburban villages — many races, sev- 
eral creeds, different denominations, all were united in 
the presentation of this great passion drama. And 
the audiences — for a full month the production ran. 



208 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 

People came from all parts of the city, from all walks 
of life — millionaires, the fagged and jaded theater- 
goers, the commuters, the saints of the church, the 
weary dwellers in the congested districts. Some of 
them heard the story of the Christ for the first time, 
others of them, crushed and broken by the ravages of 
war, were given a new faith, and all of them were 
held in a spell of reverence. It was as though a voice 
out of the heavenlies had spoken words of comfort, 
hope and strength. 

And so may it be everywhere. Always and in all 
places, whether it be outdoor or indoor, religious drama 
properly presented, has a distinctly spiritual effect. It 
touches the heart. Here is Christianity's opportunity. 
God has prepared the world for a religious awakening. 
The inherent appreciation of the dramatic has opened a 
way for the Christian message. Surely the time has 
come for the church to speak, to say to the drama, this 
new, and yet old prophet of righteousness, "Go ye into 
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." 

Books for Reference 

Mary Master Needham, Folk Festivals. 

Percy Mackaye, The Civic Theatre. 

Emma Sheridan Fry, Educational Dramatics. 

Alice Minnie Herts Heniger, The Kingdom of the 

Child. 
Alice Minnie Herts, The Children's Educational 

Theater. 
Constance D'Arcy Mackay, Patriotic Drama in Your 

Town. 



INDEX 



Art 

and religion, 13 

and drama, 46 

of the people, 64 

appreciation of, 112 

the new stage-craft, 131, 159 

understanding of, 146 

teaching, 179 

Attention 

whole-hearted, 39 

diverted, 126 

how created and sustained, 146 

Audience, made participants 
through 
active interests, 59 
impromptu reproductions, 91 
music, 95, 134 

Bible, The 
and drama, 16 
and teaching, 105, 113 

Bottle Dolls, 108, 159 

Children's Productions, req- 
uisites 
spontaneity, 85 
written text not essential, 88 
preludes, prologues, and inter- 
polations, 93 
dramatic illusion, 97 

Church School, drama in 
study period, 88, 149, 151, 182 
opening service of worship, 

182 
religious day school, 183 

Circus 
playing, 43 
attraction of, 111 

Color 

purpose of, 127, 133 
reason for each, 129 
harmonies of, 134 
lights, 144 



Commercialized Drama 
aim of, 60 
cast, 60 
limitations, 63 

Community Drama 

fitting expression, 22, 81 
democratized theater, 25, 158 
new art and appreciation, 26, 

64, 112, 166 
integrating force, 59, 118, 165, 

202 
pleasure in, 82, 202 
organization for, 139 
uplift of, 147, 175, 196, 207 
opportunity for, 186 

Costumes 

keep simple for children, 97 
substitution, 98, 129 
historical accuracy, 99 
how secured, 128 
improper, 138 
care of, 143 

Crime 

misdirected play, 52, 70, 102, 

200 
age of offenders, 76 

Crudity 

not test, 56 

young children overlook, 62, 
98 

Curtains and Screens, 100, 
132 

David and Goliath, picture 
drawings, 161 

Directors 

how developed, 28 
attitude of, 87 
necessity for, 102, 120 
aim of, 103, 125, 197 
duties of, 141 



209 



2io PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 



Dominance, how secured, 126 

Drama 

and religion, chapter on, 13 
modern movements, 21 
the inner theater, 44 
types of, chapters on, 146, 

163 
where to use, chapter on, 177 
value of, chapter on, 194 

Dramatic Illusion 

psychology of, 57 
no limitations with children, 61 
new ideas concerning, 62 
aids to, 94, 95, 99, 127, 134 

Dramatic Motive 
inherent urge, 19 
chapter on, 42 
how satisfied, 49 
regulation necessary, 51 

Dramatic Play 

characteristics of, 42 
colors all life, 45 
is instinctive, 46 
drama of arrest, 52 

Educational Dramatics 

definition and purpose, 54, 57 
mental processes involved, 57 
vs. professional drama, 59, 64 

Education, missionary 
method, 24, 115, 172 
results, 103, 112, 116, 204, 206 
see foreigner 

Experience 

by proxy, 23, 71, 114, 174, 207 

unregulated, 52 
desire for new, 70, 201 
regulated, 194 
see world of dreams 

Expression, dramatic 
demand for, 46 
how expressed, 49 
possibilities of, 53, 113, 197 
creative effort, 76, 92 
religious, 198 

community, see community 
drama 



Foreigner, The 
his interests, 80, 158 
method of approach to, 106 
Americanization, 113, 119, 203 
see unchurched peoples 

Gang Spirit, an aid, 73 

Good Samaritan, The, Indian 
interpretation of, 107 

Grease Paints, value of, 100 

Health, training in, 11 1 

Heroic, the appeal of, 75 

Holy and Holidays, celebra- 
tion of, 22, 187, 190 

Home 

family interests, 77 
dramatics in, 148, 189 
training for responsibility, 180 
training school, 190 

Imagination 

dramatic, how expressed, 44, 

49 
constructive, utilized, 69 
creative, 61, 76 
and dramatic illusion, 97 

Impersonation 
inner imitation, 42 
child, 67, 88, 151 
ludicrous, 73 

Instincts and Impulses 

their place in education, 38, 46 
transiency of, 197 
see dramatic motive 

Interests 
age, 66, 86 
social, 79 

Interpolations 
function of, 96 
in cast reading, 1 56 
in missionary plays, 172 

Introduction of Players, 96 

John Wesley, dramatization of, 
108 



INDEX 



211 



Jetts, The, 191 

Material, source of 

play and pageant texts, 83 
directed imitation, 88 
playing of common incidents, 

89 
impromptu reproductions, 90 
stories, 91 
original productions, 92 

Memory, age of ready, 71 

Miracles and Moralities, 19, 
152 

Mount Rubidoux, Easter cel- 
ebration, 23 

Movement and Grouping, 125 

Movies 

attendance at, 48 
effects of, 170, 200 

Music 

and the drama, 46 
preludes, 95 
function, 134 
composing, 136 
director of, 144 

New, The 

demand for, 70 
in terms of old, 86 

Oberammergau 

direct impersonation of Christ, 

170 
Passion play, 175 

Organization, chapter on, 139 

Pageant, The 

outdoor pageantry, 132 
description of, 154 

Patriotism 

how taught, 113 
see foreigner 



Personnel, dramatic 
chief concern, 59 
how chosen, 86, 89, 122 
rights of, 124 

movement and grouping, 125 
securing dominance, 126 
relation to director, 141 
education of, 194 

Play Analysis, why and how, 
85, 124 

Play, The, 152 

Play in Education 

persistence of play spirit, 29 
attitudes toward, 29 
the natural way, 35 
an efficient method, 38 
dramatic play, 42 
unregulated play, 52, 70, 102, 
200 

Play Town, Teachers' College, 
89 

Production, dramatic 

chapters on, 66, 84, 102, 122, 

139 
impromptu, 90, 91, 118 
study of, 185 

Properties, 98, 130 

Projects, 159, 190 

Quaker Meeting, dramatized, 
178 

Recreation, educational, 
through 
humorous dramas, 82 
biblical pantomimes, 149 
stunts, 150 
operettas, 165 
shadow plays, 167 
playing grown up, 180 
home festivals, 189 

Sex Consciousness 
awakening of, 73 
emotional sentiment, 75 



212 PAGEANTRY AND DRAMATICS 



Spontaneity, how induced, 85, 
124, 135 

Stage Sets 
mental preparation for, 94 
simplicity preferable, 99 
indoor, 131 
adaptations, 132 

Substitution of 
costumes, 98, 129 
properties, 98, 131 
stage settings, 100, 132, 137 

Suggestion, place of, 62, 97, 131 

Teaching, dramatics a means of 
imparts useful knowledge, 103 
creates proper attitudes, 112 
determines character, 117 

Tempest, The, 196 

Theater, Professional 
limited relationship with, 13 
compared with educational, 59 

Theme, selecting 
care in, 66 
age interests, 66 
social interests, 78 



Types of Dramatic Produc- 
tions 

individuals as players, 146 
inanimate stage personnel, 157 
musical drama, 163 
screen plays, 167 
religious, 171 

Unchurched Peoples 

early church, 18 

and drama, 106, 189 

influencing, 147 

attracting, 177 

festal days, an opportunity, 
187 
Vaudeville, attendance at, 47 
Wayfarer Pageant, 106, 207 

World of Dreams 

dramatic imagination, 44 
reminiscences, 45 
attraction of, 68 
youth and dream world, 72 
no limitations set, 74 
lost in, 90 

World War 

a stimulus to drama, 21 
child reproductions of, 43 

Yellow Jacket, The, how 
staged, 62 



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